[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 23, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4836-4838]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01282]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XC455


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Notice of final determination and discussion of underlying 
biological analysis.

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[[Page 4837]]

SUMMARY: NMFS has evaluated the Tribal Resource Management Plan (Plan) 
submitted by the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (Tribes) to NMFS pursuant to 
the limitation on take prohibitions for actions conducted under the 
Tribal Rule of section 4(d) for salmon and steelhead promulgated under 
the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The plan specifies fishery management 
activities in the Salmon River sub basin of Idaho. This document serves 
to notify the public that NMFS, by delegated authority from the 
Secretary of Commerce, has determined pursuant to the ESA Tribal 4(d) 
Rule for salmon and steelhead that implementing and enforcing the Plan 
will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery of 
ESA-listed salmon and steelhead.

DATES: The final determination on the Plan was made on January 11, 
2013.

ADDRESSES: National Marine Fisheries Service, Salmon Management 
Division, 1201 NE. Lloyd Boulevard, Suite 1100, Portland, OR 97232.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Enrique Pati[ntilde]o at (206) 526-
4655, or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Species Covered in This Notice

    Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): threatened, naturally 
produced and artificially propagated Snake River spring/summer.
    Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha): threatened, naturally produced and 
artificially propagated Snake River fall-run.
    Steelhead (O. mykiss): threatened, naturally produced and 
artificially propagated Snake River basin.
    Sockeye (O. nerka): endangered, naturally produced and artificially 
propagated Snake River.

Background

    The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have submitted to NMFS a Tribal Plan 
describing the management of ceremonial and subsistence fisheries in 
the Salmon River basin in the State of Idaho. The objective of the 
Tribal Plan is to harvest spring Chinook salmon in a manner that does 
not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery of the 
ESU. Impact levels on the listed spring Chinook salmon populations in 
the ESU are specified by a sliding-scale harvest rate schedule based on 
run size and escapement needs as described in the Tribal Plan. The 
Tribal Plan sets maximum harvest rates for each management unit or 
population based on its status, and assures that those rates or 
objectives are not exceeded. A variety of monitoring and evaluation 
tasks to be conducted by the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes is specified in 
the Tribal Plan to assess the abundance of spring Chinook salmon and to 
determine fishery effort and catch. A comprehensive review of the 
Tribal Plan to evaluate whether the fisheries and ESA-listed salmon and 
steelhead populations are performing as expected will be done within 
the proposed fishery season and at the end of the proposed season.
    Under section 4(d) of the ESA, the Secretary is required to adopt 
such regulations as he deems necessary and advisable for the 
conservation of species listed as threatened. NMFS has issued a final 
ESA 4(d) Rule for Tribal Plans adopting regulations necessary and 
advisable to harmonize statutory conservation requirements with tribal 
rights and the Federal trust responsibility to tribes (50 CFR 223.209).
    This 4(d) Rule for Tribal Plans applies the prohibitions enumerated 
in section 9(a)(1) of the ESA. NMFS did not find it necessary and 
advisable to apply the take prohibitions described in section 
9(a)(1)(B) and 9(a)(1)(C) to fishery harvest activities if the 
fisheries are managed in accordance with a Tribal Plan whose 
implementation has been determined by the Secretary to not appreciably 
reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery of the listed salmonids.
    As specified in the Tribal 4(d) Rule, before the Secretary makes a 
decision on the Tribal Plan, the public must have an opportunity to 
review and comment on the pending determination. NMFS made the proposed 
evaluation and pending determination available for public review, and 
the final evaluation and determination reflect consideration of 
comments received.

Discussion of the Biological Analysis Underlying the Determination

    The management objective is for the Tribes to conduct fisheries in 
a manner that does not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival 
and recovery of listed Chinook salmon. The Plan includes provisions for 
monitoring and evaluation to assess fishing-related impacts on Snake 
River spring/summer Chinook salmon. Performance indicators include dam, 
weir, and redd counts, harvest estimates, and escapement with respect 
to escapement goals. The proposed Plan provides the framework through 
which Tribal salmon fisheries could be implemented while meeting 
requirements specified under the ESA.
    The Tribes intend to engage in ceremonial and subsistence harvest 
of both hatchery and natural-origin spring/summer Chinook salmon. 
Annually, the Tribes would issue season regulations detailing the 
timing and season regulations for tributary fisheries consistent with 
this long-term Plan. Under the Plan, the Tribes would manage all 
Chinook salmon fisheries to achieve escapement objectives using 
population-specific, abundance-based harvest rate schedules to limit 
ESA take according to year-specific adult escapement abundances. As a 
result, weaker populations will sustain less harvest and as the number 
of predicted adults increase, the number of fish escaping to the 
spawning grounds will also increase.
    To achieve its conservation objectives, the Plan employs a number 
of key strategies as part of their harvest conservation measures, 
including: (1) Fishery-related redistribution of the conservation 
burden historically borne by fisheries; (2) use of threshold points to 
restrict the take of ESA-listed fish; and (3) application of a sliding 
scale approach to determine appropriate ESA take limits on critically 
low runs as well as on healthier runs at levels that may not slow 
recovery.
    The Plan includes provisions for annual reports that will assess 
compliance with performance standards established through the Plan. The 
monitoring and evaluation described in the Plan will focus on two 
primary performance indicators: adult and juvenile abundance, and the 
overall assessment of abundance and productivity measures for each 
population. Reporting and inclusion of new information derived from 
Plan research, monitoring, and evaluation activities provides assurance 
that performance standards will be achieved in future seasons.

Summary of Comments Received in Response to the Proposed Evaluation and 
Pending Determination

    NMFS published notice of its proposed evaluation and pending 
determination on the Plan for public review and comment on May 30, 2012 
(77 FR 31835). The proposed evaluation and pending determination and an 
associated draft environmental assessment were available for public 
review and comment for 30 days.
    NMFS received one set of comments, from the Nez Perce Tribe. 
Several comments were addressed in NMFS' final evaluation and 
recommended determination document, but no substantive changes were 
required to the Plan or the environmental

[[Page 4838]]

assessment. A detailed summary of the comments and NMFS' responses is 
also available on the Salmon Management Division Web site. Based on its 
evaluation and recommended determination and taking into account the 
public comments, NMFS issued its final determination on the Shoshone-
Bannock Tribes' Salmon River subbasin salmon and steelhead fishery 
management Plan.

Authority

    Under section 4 of the ESA, the Secretary is required to adopt such 
regulations as he deems necessary and advisable for the conservation of 
the species listed as threatened. The ESA Tribal 4(d) Rule (50 CFR 
223.209) states that the ESA section 9 take prohibitions will not apply 
to Tribal Plans that will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of 
survival and recovery for the listed species.

    Dated: January 17, 2013.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-01282 Filed 1-22-13; 8:45 am]
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