[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15694-15695]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-6891]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 030801A]


Endangered Species; Permits

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Receipt of an application for a scientific research/enhancement 
permit (1300).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the following actions regarding 
permits for takes of endangered and threatened species for the purposes 
of scientific research and/or enhancement under the Endangered Species 
Act (ESA): NMFS has received an application for an ESA section 10 
(a)(1)(A) scientific research/enhancement permit (1300) from the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Leavenworth National Fish 
Hatchery Complex at Leavenworth, WA.

DATES: Comments or requests for a public hearing on any of the new 
applications or modification requests must be received at the 
appropriate address or fax number no later than 5 p.m. eastern standard 
time on April 19, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on any of the new applications or 
modification requests should be sent to the appropriate office as 
indicated below. Comments may also be sent via fax to the number 
indicated for the application or modification request. Comments will 
not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or the Internet. The 
applications and related documents are available for review in the 
indicated office, by appointment:
    Sustainable Fisheries Division, Hatcheries and Inland Fisheries 
Branch, NWR2, 525 N.E. Oregon Street, Suite 510, Portland, OR 97232.
    Documents may also be reviewed by appointment in the Office of 
Protected Resources, F/PR3, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910-3226 (phone:301-713-1401).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Turner, Portland, OR at phone 
number: (503) 736-4737, fax: (503) 736-2737, or e-mail: 
[email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority

    Issuance of permits and permit modifications, as required by the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) (ESA), is based on 
a finding that such permits/modifications: (1) are applied for in good 
faith; (2) would not operate to the disadvantage of the listed species 
which are the subject of the permits; and (3) are consistent with the 
purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA. Scientific 
research and/or enhancement permits are issued under Section 
10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. Authority to take listed species is subject to 
conditions set forth in the permits. Permits and modifications are 
issued in accordance with and are subject to the ESA and NMFS 
regulations governing listed fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 
222-226).
    Those individuals requesting a hearing on an application listed in 
this notice should set out the specific reasons why a hearing on that 
application would be appropriate (see

[[Page 15695]]

ADDRESSES). The holding of such hearing is at the discretion of the 
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA. All statements and 
opinions contained in the permit action summaries are those of the 
applicant and do not necessarily reflect the views of NMFS.

Species Covered in This Notice

    The following species and evolutionarily significant units (ESU's) 
are covered in this notice:

Fish

    Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha): endangered, naturally produced and 
artificially propagated, Upper Columbia River (UCR) spring chinook.
    Steelhead (O. mykiss): endangered, naturally produced and 
artificially propagated, UCR steelhead.

New Applications Received

Application 1300

    USFWS requests a 5-year ESA section 10(a)(1)(A) scientific 
research/enhancement permit (1300) that would authorize annual takes of 
adult and juvenile, listed UCR spring chinook salmon for use in a 
hatchery supplementation program designed to help conserve the species. 
The program is located at Winthrop National Fish Hatchery (NFH), at 
river kilometer 72 of the Methow River in Washington.
    The primary goal of USFWS' proposed supplementation program is to 
used locally adapted spring chinook salmon to help forestall the 
extinction of spring chinook salmon populations in the Methow River 
Basin. The specific objectives of USFWS program are to: (1) phase-out 
the use of transplanted Carson stock spring chinook salmon at Winthrop 
NFH, (2) maintain and restore natural spawning populations of spring 
chinook salmon in the Methow River Basin, (3) increase the species' 
chances for long-term survival by supplementing the natural production 
of chinook salmon in the Methow River Basin, (4) mitigate for the loss 
of chinook salmon production above Grand Coulee Dam, and (5) ultimately 
reestablish sport and tribal fisheries for chinook salmon in the Methow 
River Basin. USFWS proposes to accept transfer of ESA-listed adult and 
jack spring chinook salmon that are collected by the Washington 
Department of Fish and Wildlife at Wells Dam and other locations in the 
Methow River Basin (under proposed permit 1196 (64 FR 6880, February 
11, 1999))and to retain ESA-listed adult and jack spring chinook salmon 
that return to the Winthrop NFH for broodstock. Broodstock will be 
held, inoculated for diseases, and spawned at Winthrop NFH. The 
resulting progeny are proposed to be reared in the hatchery, tagged 
and/or marked with identifiers (coded wires, visual implant elastomer 
tags, passive integrated transponders), and released as smolts in the 
Methow River Basin or on-station. Hatchery smolts will be allowed to 
acclimate prior to their volitional emigration to the ocean. Progeny of 
ESA-listed UCR spring chinook spawned at Winthrop NFH may also be used 
in remote site incubators or outplanted as fry into the Methow River 
Basin. Annual incidental takes of ESA-listed UCR steelhead resulting 
from hatchery operations, broodstock collection, and the annual 
releases of juvenile fish from the program are also requested.

    Dated: March 9, 2001.
Phil Williams,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-6891 Filed 3-19-01; 8:45 am]
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