[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 175 (Monday, September 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55458-55459]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22209]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 120807314-2314-01]
RIN 0648-XC155


Endangered and Threatened Species; 90-Day Finding on Petition To 
Delist the Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Evolutionarily 
Significant Unit of Coho Salmon Under the Endangered Species Act

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

ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding.

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SUMMARY: We, NMFS, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to delist 
the Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) Evolutionarily 
Significant Unit (ESU) of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) under the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petition does not 
present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating 
that the petitioned action may be warranted.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the petition are available at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/or upon request from the Assistant Regional 
Administrator, Protected Resources Division, NMFS, Southwest Regional 
Office, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Wingert, NMFS, Southwest Region 
Office, (562) 980-4021; or Dwayne Meadows, Office of Protected 
Resources (301) 427-8403.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Section 4 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1533) contains provisions allowing 
interested persons to petition the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to 
add a species to or remove a species from the List of Endangered and 
Threatened Wildlife, and to designate critical habitat for any 
endangered or threatened species. The Secretary has delegated the 
authority for these actions to the NOAA Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries.
    On July 3, 2012, we received a petition from the Siskiyou County 
Water Users Association and Dr. Richard Gierak (the petitioners) 
requesting that we delist the SONCC ESU of coho salmon under the ESA. 
The petitioners previously submitted four petitions requesting that we 
delist coho salmon. We analyzed those petitions and found that they did 
not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating 
the petitioned action may be warranted. One negative 90-day finding 
notice for three of these petitions was published on October 7, 2011 
(76 FR 62375) and a second negative 90-day finding for the fourth 
petition was published on January 11, 2012 (77 FR 1668). The new 
petition largely reiterates the petitioners' previous arguments, 
including that the species is not native to northern California 
watersheds, including the Klamath River, the species abundance has 
increased since the early 1960s and is in good condition overall, and 
that non-man-made factors (e.g., ocean conditions, floods, fires, and 
drought) rather than man-made factors are responsible for the decline 
in coho salmon abundance. These arguments

[[Page 55459]]

were addressed in our responses to the previous petitions and therefore 
not repeated here.
    In the current petition, the petitioners have specified their 
request to delist the SONCC coho salmon ESU, reiterated many of their 
previous arguments, and presented some additional information regarding 
coho and Chinook salmon fishing seasons in Oregon streams, Yukon River 
salmon run predictions, changes in salmon landings over the past 1-2 
decades, and increases in Pacific Ocean water temperature. We carefully 
analyzed this additional information and found that it is: Not relevant 
to the petitioned action (e.g., the Oregon and Yukon fisheries are 
different ESUs from the petitioned species); not supported by 
literature citations or other references in the petition (e.g., 
historical landings and ocean temperature information), and therefore 
constitutes unsupported assertions; or it simply does not support the 
petitioned action (e.g., information about coho and Chinook salmon 
fishing seasons in Oregon streams that are not within the range of this 
ESU). As a result of these deficiencies, the petition does not present 
any additional substantial scientific or commercial information that 
indicates the petitioned action may be warranted. Moreover, none of 
this additional information modifies the underlying scientific basis 
for our original determination to list the SONCC coho salmon ESU or 
causes us to re-evaluate our analysis of delisting petitions that were 
previously submitted by the petitioners.

ESA Statutory and Regulatory Provisions and Evaluation Framework

    Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(A)) requires 
that we make a finding as to whether a petition to list, delist, or 
reclassify a species presents substantial scientific or commercial 
information indicating the petitioned action may be warranted. ESA 
implementing regulations define ``substantial information'' as the 
``amount of information that would lead a reasonable person to believe 
that the measure proposed in the petition may be warranted'' (50 CFR 
424.14(b)(1)). In determining whether a petition presents substantial 
scientific or commercial information to list or delist a species, we 
take into account information submitted with, and referenced in, the 
petition and all other information readily available in our files. To 
the maximum extent practicable, this finding is to be made within 90 
days of the receipt of the petition, followed by prompt publication in 
the Federal Register (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(A)). ESA implementing 
regulations state that a species may be delisted only if the best 
scientific and commercial data available substantiate that it is 
neither endangered nor threatened for one or more of the following 
reasons: The species is extinct; the species is recovered; or 
subsequent investigations show the best scientific or commercial data 
available when the species was listed, or the interpretation of such 
data, were in error (50 CFR 424.11(d)).

Petition Finding

    As discussed above, this subject petition does not present any 
additional substantial scientific or commercial information related to 
whether the SONCC ESU of coho salmon is recovered, extinct, or that the 
best scientific or commercial data available when the species was 
listed, or the interpretation of such data, were in error. Therefore, 
we find that the petition does not present substantial scientific or 
commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be 
warranted.

References Cited

    A complete list of the references used in this finding is available 
upon request (see ADDRESSES).

    Authority:  16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

    Dated: September 4, 2012.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, performing the functions and 
duties of the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-22209 Filed 9-7-12; 8:45 am]
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