[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 92 (Friday, May 12, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27710-27712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7273]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 050406C]


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Applications for five scientific research permits (1564, 1565, 
1566, 1567, 1568) and one modification (1335 - modification 4).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received six scientific 
research permit application requests relating to Pacific salmon. The 
proposed research is intended to increase knowledge of species listed 
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to help guide management and 
conservation efforts.

DATES: Comments or requests for a public hearing on the applications 
must be received at the appropriate address or fax number (see 
ADDRESSES) no later than 5 p.m. Pacific standard time on June 12, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the applications should be sent to the 
Protected Resources Division, NMFS, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Suite 1100, 
Portland, OR 97232-1274. Comments may also be sent via fax to 503-230-
5441 or by e-mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Garth Griffin, Portland, OR (ph.: 503-
231-2005, Fax: 503-230-5441, e-mail: [email protected]). Permit 
application instructions are available from the address above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Species Covered in This Notice

    The following listed species are covered in this notice:
    Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): threatened lower 
Columbia River (LCR), threatened upper Willamette River (UWR), 
threatened Puget Sound (PS), endangered upper Columbia River (UCR).
    Chum salmon (O. keta): threatened Columbia River (CR), threatened 
Hood Canal (HC).

[[Page 27711]]

    Steelhead (O. mykiss): threatened LCR, threatened UWR, threatened 
UCR, threatened middle Columbia River (MCR).
    Coho salmon (O. kisutch): threatened LCR, threatened Southern 
Oregon Northern California Coasts (SONCC).

Authority

    Scientific research permits are issued in accordance with section 
10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and regulations 
governing listed fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR 222-226). NMFS 
issues permits based on findings that such permits: (1) Are applied for 
in good faith; (2) if granted and exercised, would not operate to the 
disadvantage of the listed species that are the subject of the permit; 
and (3) are consistent with the purposes and policy of section 2 of the 
ESA. The authority to take listed species is subject to conditions set 
forth in the permits.
    Anyone 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 ADDRESSES). Such hearings are held at the 
discretion of the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NMFS.

Applications Received

Permit 1335 - Modification 4

    Permit 1335 currently authorizes the US Forest Service (USFS) to 
take juvenile UCR Chinook salmon, UWR Chinook salmon, LCR Chinook 
salmon, PS Chinook salmon, UCR steelhead, UWR steelhead, LCR steelhead, 
MCR steelhead, CR chum salmon, HC chum salmon, and SONCC coho salmon on 
Federal lands covered by the Northwest Forest Plan in Oregon and 
Washington. The USFS is asking to modify their permit so they may be 
allowed to take LCR coho salmon and newly listed hatchery HC chum 
salmon, LCR Chinook salmon, UWR Chinook salmon, and SONCC coho salmon. 
They also wish to extend the permit's expiration date to December 31, 
2010. The purpose of the research is to assess watershed conditions and 
limiting factors, and determine watershed health under the Northwest 
Forest Plan. The activities will benefit listed fish by providing the 
USFS with information to improve forest management. The USFS proposes 
to capture (using backpack electrofishing), anesthetize, measure, and 
release juvenile fish. The USFS does not intend to kill any fish being 
captured but some may die as an unintentional result of the research 
activities.

Permit 1564

    The University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery 
Sciences (UW) is requesting a 5-year research permit to take juvenile 
PS Chinook salmon. The objective of the research is to monitor the 
success of habitat restoration projects in the Duwamish River estuary 
the researchers wish to determine if the population characteristics of 
local Chinook salmon have changed (improved) in response to recent 
estuarine habitat restoration activities. The habitat restoration work 
was conducted by the Port of Seattle and monitoring has been going on 
since 2004 under a separate permit. The UW is now seeking their own 
permit to continue the study. The habitat restoration projects were 
designed to improve Chinook salmon rearing and migration habitat, and 
the research will benefit the fish by helping managers learn the 
effectiveness of those measures. The fish would be captured using 
enclosure nets and beach seines. Half of the juvenile Chinook salmon 
would be counted, checked for external marks and internal coded-wire 
tags, measured, and released. The other half of the captured fish would 
also have their stomachs flushed. The UW does not intend to kill any of 
the fish being captured but a small number may die as an unintended 
result of the activities.

Permit 1565

    The National Park Service, Olympic National Park (ONP) is 
requesting a 5-year research permit to take juvenile LCR Chinook 
salmon, juvenile PS Chinook salmon, juvenile LCR steelhead, and 
juvenile LCR coho salmon. The research activities are part of the 
National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program and would be 
conducted within the boundaries of Mount Rainier National Park. The 
long-term goals for the program are to (1) monitor ecosystem status and 
trends; (2) help park managers identify alternative management actions, 
assess trade-offs, and evaluate outcomes; and (3) cooperate with other 
Federal and state agencies and thereby share resources, achieve common 
goals, and avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and expense. The 
research would benefit the fish by helping improve management actions. 
The ONP would use snorkeling and backpack electrofishing to assess 
species presence and abundance. Captured fish would be measured for 
length and released. The ONP does not intend to kill any of the fish 
being captured but a small number may die as an unintended result of 
the activities.

Permit 1566

    The Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) is requesting a 5-
year research permit to take juvenile PS Chinook salmon. The purpose of 
this study is to monitor a number of proposed restoration sites along 
the Puget Sound shoreline from near the Hiram Chittenden Locks north to 
the town of Everett. The researchers would determine fish presence, 
gauge individual fish health, and measure chemical contamination. The 
goal is to establish a pre-restoration baseline of the conditions at 
each of the proposed restoration sites so the researchers can determine 
how effective the restoration is. The fish would benefit from ongoing 
improvement in the restoration efforts. Sediments would be collected 
from each site and chemically analyzed. The fish would be captured in 
beach seines, measured, and sampled for individual condition factors 
and whole body lipid content. Some of the captured fish would be 
sacrificed during the process, and a few more fish may die as an 
unintended result of the research.

Permit 1567

    Ridolfi Inc. is requesting a 5-year research permit to take 
juvenile PS Chinook salmon. The purpose of this study is to monitor 
habitat restoration sites in Commencement Bay, Washington. Data from 
the research would be used to measure the success of restoration 
efforts, identify adaptive management approaches, address monitoring 
requirements specified by permitting agencies, and serve as an outreach 
tool for disseminating project information to interested parties. The 
fish would benefit from ongoing improvement in the restoration actions. 
The fish would be captured using block nets and beach seines at six 
restoration sites throughout Commencement Bay and its tributaries. The 
fish would be collected, identified, checked for marks or coded-wire 
tags, and measured. Ridolfi does not intend to kill any of the fish 
being captured, but a small number may die as an unintended result of 
the activities.

Permit 1568

    The NWFSC is requesting a 5-year research permit to take juvenile 
PS Chinook salmon. The purpose of this project is to provide 
information on the basic life histories, ecology and genetic 
compositions of wild and hatchery juvenile Chinook salmon in the 
Snohomish River estuary. The study is designed to (1) characterize the 
ecology of existing Chinook salmon populations and life history types 
in the Snohomish

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River Estuary, and (2) evaluate how effectively habitat protection and 
restoration actions in the estuary help Chinook salmon populations in 
the Snohomish River Basin. The information gathered by this research 
would benefit the fish by helping recovery planning in the Snohomish 
River estuary and other estuaries of the Puget Sound. The fish would be 
captured using Fyke nets and beach seines. They would then be 
anesthetized, measured, and weighed. The fish would also be tissue-
sampled and checked for external marks and coded-wire tags. A portion 
of the captured fish would be sacrificed for full necropsy and a few 
more may die as an unintended result of the research.
    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA. NMFS 
will evaluate the application, associated documents, and comments 
submitted to determine whether the application meets the requirements 
of section 10(a) of the ESA and Federal regulations. The final permit 
decisions will not be made until after the end of the 30-day comment 
period. NMFS will publish notice of its final action in the Federal 
Register.

    Dated: May 9, 2006.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-7273 Filed 5-11-06; 8:45 am]
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