[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 14, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1819-1821]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-696]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 010603C]


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(USFWS) has submitted 10 Hatchery and Genetic Management Plans (HGMP) 
pursuant to the protective regulations promulgated for salmon and 
steelhead in the Columbia River basin listed under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). The HGMPs specify the future 
management of hatchery programs potentially affecting the Lower 
Columbia River (LCR) chum salmon, LCR chinook salmon, LCR steelhead, 
Upper Willamette River (UWR) chinook salmon, and Middle Columbia River 
(MCR) steelhead in the States of Oregon and Washington. This document 
serves to notify the public of the availability of the HGMPs for review 
and comment before a final approval or disapproval is made by NMFS.

DATES: Written comments on the draft HGMPs must be received at the 
appropriate address or fax number (see ADDRESSES) no later than 5 p.m. 
Pacific standard time on February 13, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests for copies of the draft HGMPs 
should be addressed to Richard Turner, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 
Hatchery and Inland Fisheries Branch, 525 N.E. Oregon Street, Suite 
510, Portland, OR 97232 or faxed to (503) 872-2737. The documents are 
also available on the Internet at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/. Comments 
will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or the Internet.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is relevant to the LCR chum 
salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), LCR chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), LCR 
steelhead (O. mykiss), UWR chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), and MCR 
steelhead (O. mykiss) Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESU).

Background

    The USFWS has submitted to NMFS 10 HGMPs for artificial propagation 
programs potentially affecting listed adults and juveniles of the LCR 
chum salmon, LCR chinook salmon, LCR steelhead, UWR chinook salmon, and 
MCR steelhead ESUs (Table 1). The Little White Salmon/Willard National 
Fish Hatchery (NFH) Complex rears and releases spring chinook salmon, 
upriver bright fall chinook salmon, and coho salmon. These programs use 
hatchery adults that return annually to the Little White Salmon NFH at 
the mouth of the Little White Salmon River in the state of Washington 
for broodstock. The spring chinook salmon and coho salmon artificial 
propagation programs are funded by NMFS through the Mitchell Act, and 
the upriver bright fall chinook salmon program is funded by the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers as part of the John Day Dam mitigation program.

   Table 1. Hatchery and Genetic Management Plans and Lead Management
                                Agencies.
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   Hatchery and Genetic Management Plan            Lead Agencies
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Little White Salmon/Willard NFH Complex                            USFWS
 Coho Salmon
Little White Salmon/Willard NFH Complex                            USFWS
 Spring Chinook Salmon
Little White Salmon/Willard NFH Complex                            USFWS
 Upriver Bright Fall Chinook Salmon
Carson NFH Spring Chinook Salmon                                   USFWS
Spring Creek NFH Tule Fall Chinook Salmon                          USFWS
Eagle Creek NFH Coho Salmon                                        USFWS
Eagle Creek NFH Winter Steelhead                                   USFWS
Warm Springs NFH Warm Springs River                                USFWS
 Spring Chinook Salmon
Touchet River Endemic Summer Steelhead                        WDFW/USFWS
Walla Walla River Summer Steelhead--Lyons                     WDFW/USFWS
 Ferry Hatchery Stock
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[[Page 1820]]

    The spring chinook salmon program at the Carson NFH rears and 
releases Carson stock spring chinook salmon into the Wind River in the 
state of Washington. This program is funded through the Mitchell Act. 
Spring Creek NFH rears and releases tule fall chinook salmon from the 
hatchery located on the mainstem Columbia River above Bonneville Dam. 
This is funded through the Mitchell Act. These Mitchell Act programs 
are designed and funded to support Tribal Treaty fisheries and non-
treaty commercial and recreational fisheries as mitigation for hydro-
system development and habitat loss due to the construction and 
operation of the Federal mainstem dams on the Columbia River. The 
proposed artificial propagation programs at Little White Salmon/Willard 
Complex, Carson NFH, and Spring Creek NFH use hatchery returns for 
broodstock and are not expected to handle salmonid adults that are 
listed under the ESA.
    The Eagle Creek NFH rears and releases coho salmon, and early-run 
winter steelhead. These programs use hatchery adults that return 
annually to the Eagle Creek NFH on Eagle Creek, a major tributary to 
the Clackamas River in Oregon for broodstock. The coho salmon and 
winter steelhead artificial propagation programs are funded by NMFS 
through the Mitchell Act.
    The Eagle Creek NFH coho salmon program rears and releases early 
run coho salmon on station at the Eagle Creek NFH. Coho adults that 
return to the hatchery from September to November are used for 
broodstock. Enough broodstock is collected to provide for an on-station 
release of 500,000 smolts annually to support ocean and mainstem 
commercial fisheries and to provide recreational fishing harvest 
opportunities in the lower Clackamas River and Eagle Creek. Additional 
coho broodstock is collected to provide eyed eggs and fingerlings to 
the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho for restoration programs in the Clearwater 
River basin in Idaho and to provide fingerling coho salmon to the 
Clatsop County Economic Development Commission for development and 
operation of terminal fisheries in Youngs Bay, Tongue Point, and Blind 
Slough, Oregon.
    The Eagle Creek NFH winter steelhead program rears and releases 
non-listed early-run winter steelhead on station at the Eagle Creek NFH 
to support local recreational fisheries. Broodstock for the program is 
collected from returning hatchery adults that swim into the hatchery 
from November through March. These Mitchell Act programs are designed 
and funded to support Tribal Treaty fisheries and non-treaty commercial 
and recreational fisheries as mitigation for hydro-system development 
and habitat loss due to the construction and operation of the federal 
mainstem dams on the Columbia River. The proposed artificial 
propagation programs at Eagle Creek NFH have the potential to handle up 
to two adult salmonids that are listed under the ESA when collecting 
broodstock.
    The Warm Springs spring chinook program uses natural and hatchery 
produced spring chinook salmon that return to the Warm Springs NFH, 
located on the Warm Springs River (tributary to the Deschutes River in 
Oregon). These populations are not listed. This program is funded by 
the USFWS and is operated cooperatively with the Confederated Tribes of 
the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. During broodstock collection 
activities and during the operation of the fish ladder and trap at the 
Warm Springs NFH, listed MCR summer steelhead will be handled and 
released and hatchery steelhead will be collected and removed to 
prevent non-endemic summer steelhead from spawning naturally with 
listed summer steelhead.
    The purpose of the Touchet River endemic summer steelhead HGMP is 
to develop an artificial propagation program that uses natural and 
hatchery produced summer steelhead broodstock that are endemic to the 
Touchet River, a tributary to the Walla Walla River in Washington. This 
program is designed to use the locally-adapted broodstock to replace 
the non-endemic Lyons Ferry State Fish Hatchery summer steelhead 
program that currently releases hatchery summer steelhead into the 
Touchet River. This program will collect broodstock from both listed 
naturally produced steelhead and hatchery produced endemic stock 
steelhead returning to an adult fish trap on the Touchet River in 
Dayton, Washington. The adults collected for broodstock will be spawned 
and released back into the Touchet River and the eggs transferred to 
the Lyons Ferry State Fish Hatchery for incubation and rearing. All 
steelhead smolts will be marked and then acclimated at the Dayton 
Acclimation Ponds prior to release into the Touchet River or will be 
released directly into the upper Touchet River basin above the Dayton 
adult fish trap.
    The Walla Walla River summer steelhead program uses the Lyons Ferry 
Hatchery summer steelhead stock to augment recreational fisheries in 
the lower mainstem Walla Walla and Touchet rivers. Lyons Ferry Hatchery 
summer steelhead broodstock is collected from hatchery adults returning 
to the Lyons Ferry Hatchery on the mainstem Snake River in Washington. 
Releases of hatchery fish from this program have declined in recent 
years to address ESA concerns and continue to be evaluated for further 
reductions or modification.
    These two programs are operated by the Washington Department of 
Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and funded by the USFWS through the Lower 
Snake River Compensation Plan as mitigation for lost recreational 
fisheries resulting from the construction and operation of the four 
Lower Snake River dams.
    Impacts on the listed LCR and MCR ESUs are specified in the HGMPs 
and are expected to be low. A variety of monitoring and evaluation 
tasks are specified in the HGMPs to assess the contribution of hatchery 
releases to fisheries and to assess impacts on naturally spawning 
populations of LCR chum salmon, LCR chinook salmon, LCR steelhead, and 
MCR steelhead. The USFWS and WDFW will annually review the hatchery 
operations, smolt releases, and adult returns within the provisions of 
the HGMPs. The USFWS and WDFW will conduct, at a minimum of every 5 
years, a comprehensive review to evaluate the effectiveness of the 
HGMPs.
    As specified in the July 10, 2000, ESA 4(d) rule for salmon and 
steelhead (65 FR 42422), NMFS may approve an HGMP if it meets criteria 
set forth in Sec.  223.203 (b)(5)(i)(A) through (K). Prior to final 
approval of an HGMP, NMFS must publish notification announcing its 
availability for public review and comment.

Authority

    Under section 4 of the ESA, the Secretary of Commerce is required 
to adopt such regulations as he deems necessary and advisable for the 
conservation of species listed as threatened. The ESA salmon and 
steelhead 4(d) rule (65 FR 42422, July 10, 2000) specifies categories 
of activities that contribute to the conservation of listed salmonids 
and sets out the criteria for such activities. The rule further 
provides that the prohibitions of paragraph (a) of the rule do not 
apply to activities associated with fishery harvest provided that an 
FMEP has been approved by NMFS to be in accordance with the salmon and 
steelhead 4(d) rule.


[[Page 1821]]


    Dated: January 8, 2003.
Phil Williams,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-696 Filed 1-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S