[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1201-1203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00138]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XC425


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Applications for two new scientific research permits and four 
research permit renewals.

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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. The applications may be viewed online at: https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov/preview/preview_open_for_comment.cfm.

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 February 7, 
2013.

[[Page 1202]]


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 email to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rob Clapp, Portland, OR (ph.: 503-231-
2314), Fax: 503-230-5441, email: [email protected]). Permit 
application instructions are available from the address above, or 
online at https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Species Covered in This Notice

    The following listed species are covered in this notice:

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): endangered upper Columbia 
River (UCR); threatened Snake River (SR) spring/sum (spr/sum); 
threatened SR fall;
Steelhead (O. mykiss): threatened UCR; threatened SR; threatened middle 
Columbia River (MCR).
Sockeye salmon (O. nerka): endangered SR.

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 1124--5R

    The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) is seeking to renew 
for five years a permit under which they have been conducting six 
research projects in the Snake River basin for more than 10 years. The 
permit would continue to cover the following actions: One general fish 
population inventory; one project designed to monitor fish health 
throughout the state; two projects looking at natural and hatchery 
Chinook salmon production (in which sockeye may rarely be captured); 
one project monitoring natural steelhead; and one project centering on 
recovering sockeye salmon in Idaho. Much of the work being conducted 
under these projects is covered by other ESA authorizations; the work 
contemplated here is only the work that may affect sockeye salmon. The 
purposes of the research are therefore to monitor listed salmonid 
health, help guide sockeye salmon recovery operations, and out rightly 
rescue sockeye salmon in need of help due to circumstances such as 
being trapped by low flows. The benefits to the salmon will come in the 
form of information to help guide resource managers in restoring the 
listed fish and, as stated, in directly rescuing them from peril. The 
fish would be captured by various methods-screw traps, electrofishing, 
hook-and-line-angling, mid-water trawl-and most would immediately be 
released. A few of the captured fish may die as a result of the 
research.

Permit 1134--6R

    The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) is seeking 
to renew for five years a permit under which they have been conducting 
research for nearly 15 years. The permit would continue covering five 
study projects that, among them, would annually take adult and juvenile 
threatened SR fall Chinook salmon, adult and juvenile threatened SR 
spring/summer Chinook salmon, and adult and juvenile threatened SR 
steelhead in the Snake River basin. There have been some changes in the 
research over the last ten years; nonetheless, the projects proposed 
are largely continuations of ongoing research. They are: Project 1--
Adult Spring/summer and Fall Chinook Salmon and Summer Steelhead Ground 
and Aerial Spawning Ground Surveys; Project 2--Cryopreservation of 
Spring/summer Chinook Salmon and Summer Steelhead Gametes; Project 3--
Adult Chinook Salmon Abundance Monitoring Using Video Weirs, Acoustic 
Imaging, and PIT tag Detectors in the South Fork Salmon River; Project 
4--Snorkel, Seine, fyke net, Minnow Trap, and Electrofishing Surveys 
and Collection of Juvenile Chinook Salmon and Steelhead; and Project 
5--Juvenile Anadromous Salmonid Emigration Studies Using Rotary Screw 
Traps. Under these tasks, listed adult and juvenile salmon would be 
variously (1) observed/harassed during fish population and production 
monitoring surveys; (2) captured (using seines, trawls, traps, hook-
and-line angling equipment, and electrofishing equipment) and 
anesthetized; (3) sampled for biological information and tissue 
samples, (4) PIT-tagged or tagged with other identifiers, (5) and 
released.
    The research has many purposes and would benefit listed salmon and 
steelhead in different ways. However, in general, the studies are part 
of ongoing efforts to monitor the status of listed species in the Snake 
River basin and to use those data to inform decisions about land- and 
fisheries management actions and to help prioritize and plan recovery 
measures for the listed species. Under the proposal, the studies would 
continue to benefit listed species by generating population abundance 
estimates, allowing comparisons to be made between naturally 
reproducing populations and those being supplemented with hatchery 
fish, and helping preserve listed salmon and steelhead genetic 
diversity. The CRITFC does not intend to kill any of the fish being 
captured, but a small percentage may die as a result of the research 
activities.

Permit 1480--3R

    The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is seeking to renew for 
five years a permit under which they have been conducting research for 
more than a decade. The renewed permit would continue to allow the USGS 
to annually take adult and juvenile endangered UCR Chinook and 
threatened UCR steelhead in nine tributaries to the Methow River (and 
its mainstem) in Washington State. The purpose of the research is to 
monitor the contribution these streams make to Chinook and steelhead 
production in the Methow subbasin--both before and after human-made 
passage barriers in the streams have been removed. The research would 
benefit the fish by generating information on the effectiveness of such 
restoration actions in the area and that information, in turn, would be 
used to guide other such efforts throughout the region. The USGS 
proposes to capture the fish--using weirs/traps, nets, and 
electrofishing equipment--anesthetize them, PIT-tag them (if they are 
large enough), allow them to recover, and release them. Several 
instream PIT-tag interrogation sites would be put into place to monitor 
the fish in the tributaries. In addition, tissue samples would be taken 
from some of the fish. The USGS does not intend to kill any of the fish 
being captured, but a small percentage may die as an unintended result 
of the research activities.

[[Page 1203]]

Permit 13380--2R

    The NWFSC is seeking to renew for five years a permit that 
currently allows them to annually take natural juvenile SR spring/
summer Chinook salmon and SR steelhead in the Salmon River subbasin in 
Idaho. This research has been in progress for over ten years and is 
designed to assess three alternative methods of nutrient enhancement 
(Salmon carcasses, carcass analogues, and nutrient pellets) on 
biological communities in Columbia River tributaries. In general, the 
purpose of the research is to learn how salmonids acquire nutrients 
from the carcasses of dead spawners and test three methods of using 
those nutrients to increase growth and survival among naturally 
produced salmonids. The research would benefit the fish by helping 
managers use nutrient enhancement techniques to recover listed salmonid 
populations. Moreover, managers would gain a broader understanding of 
the role marine-derived nutrients play in ecosystem health as a whole. 
This, in turn, would help inform management decisions and actions 
intended to help salmon recovery in the future.
    Under the proposed research, the fish would variously be (a) 
captured (using seines, nets, traps, and possibly, electrofishing 
equipment) and anesthetized; (b) measured, weighed and fin-clipped; (c) 
held for a time in enclosures in the stream from which they are 
captured; and (d) released. A number of the captured fish would also be 
intentionally killed so the researchers may conduct stable isotope, 
otolith, and diet analyses with the purpose of linking growth and 
survival to habitat conditions. It is also likely that a small 
percentage of the fish being captured would unintentionally be killed 
during the process; in such instances, any unintentional mortalities 
would be used in place of any fish that would otherwise be lethally 
taken. In addition, tissue samples would be taken from adult carcasses.

Permit 16979

    The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is seeking a 
five-year permit to collect data on UCR Chinook and steelhead 
abundance, status, distribution, diversity, species/ecological 
interactions, and behavior in the Columbia River from its confluence 
with the Yakima River upstream to Chief Joseph Dam. The research will 
benefit fish by helping managers (a) understand the distribution and 
proportion of hatchery and natural origin steelhead, and Chinook in UCR 
tributaries, (b) understand the influences of other biotic and abiotic 
factors with respect to recovering listed species, (c) understand the 
potential effects of proposed land use practices, (d) determine 
appropriate regulatory and habitat protection measures in the areas 
where land use actions are planned, (e) project the impacts of 
potential hydraulic projects, and (f) evaluate the effectiveness of 
local forest practices and instream habitat improvement projects in 
terms of their ability to protect and enhance listed salmonid 
populations.
    The researchers would capture fish via a wide variety of means 
(snorkeling, dip netting, seining, using electrofishing equipment, 
traps and weirs, and barbless hook-and-line sampling). The captured 
fish would be variously tissue sampled, measured, tagged, allowed to 
recover, and released. The researchers do not intend to kill any of the 
fish being captured, but a small percentage of them may inadvertently 
be killed as a result of the proposed activities.

Permit 17306

    The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is seeking a 
five-year permit to capture threatened MCR steelhead (adults and 
juveniles) in the upper Deschutes River, Oregon. The various proposed 
activities would include adult and juvenile snorkel surveys throughout 
the basin, screw trapping, backpack and boat electrofishing and mark/
recapture studies, hook and line surveys, telemetry, seining, spawning 
ground surveys using weirs and redd counts, monitoring habitat 
restoration projects, and setting traps and nets in reservoirs for 
population monitoring. Data collected from this work would be used to 
inform management decisions. Biologists from the ODFW have been 
conducting this work in the area for decades without the need for a 
permit, but since threatened MCR steelhead have recently been 
reintroduced to the area, they are seeking a permit that would allow 
them to continue it. The researchers do not intend to kill any of the 
fish being captured, but a small percentage may be killed as an 
inadvertent result of the activities.
    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA. NMFS 
will evaluate the applications, associated documents, and comments 
submitted to determine whether the applications meet 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.

Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-00138 Filed 1-7-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P