[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 140 (Monday, July 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43858-43860]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-17530]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC768
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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SUMMARY: NMFS has evaluated the Tribal Resource Management Plans
(Plans) submitted by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and the Nez Perce Tribe 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 Plans
specify fishery management activities in the Oregon and Washington
portions of the Snake River basin. 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 Plans 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 July 2, 2013.
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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.
Steelhead (O. mykiss): threatened, naturally produced and
artificially propagated Snake River Basin.
Background
The Nez Perce Tribe (NPT), the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation (CTUIR), and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (SBT) each
submitted a Tribal Resource Management Plan for harvest of Snake River
spring/summer Chinook salmon in the Imnaha and Grande Ronde subbasins
for review under the Tribal 4(d) rule. Activities described in the
Plans include tribal fisheries for hatchery-origin and natural-origin
Chinook salmon using population-specific abundance-based harvest rate
schedules, which incorporate conditions for the conservation and
restoration of salmon stocks. The management objective is for the NPT,
the CTUIR, and the SBT to conduct fisheries in a manner that does not
appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery of listed
Chinook salmon. The proposed Plans provide the framework through which
Tribal salmon fisheries can be implemented while meeting requirements
specified under the ESA.
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 a Tribal Plan, the public must have an opportunity to
review and comment on the pending determination. NMFS made the proposed
evaluation and pending determinations available for public review, and
the final evaluation and determinations 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 and steelhead. The Plans include
provisions for monitoring and evaluation to assess fishing-related
impacts on Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon. The Plans utilize
a harvest rate with five tiers based on predicted adult abundance of
each of the affected populations. The majority of the harvest is
anticipated to come from hatchery-origin stocks. The Plans also
describe a process to guide coordination of fishery design and
implementation between the agencies implementing fisheries in the
action area. The Plans include 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 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
these long-term Plans. Under the Plans, 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 their conservation objectives, the Plans employ 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 Plans include provisions for annual reports that will assess
compliance with performance standards established through the Plans.
The monitoring and evaluation described in the Plans 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
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 two of the Plans for public review and comment on
August 11, 2011 (76 FR 49735). The proposed evaluation and pending
determination and an associated draft environmental assessment were
available for public review and comment for 30 days. NMFS received
comments from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the CTUIR,
and the NPT. Subsequently, NMFS received an updated TRMP from the NPT,
addressing management of NPT fisheries in the Grande Ronde and Imnaha
Rivers. NMFS published notice of its proposed evaluation and pending
determination on the NPT Plan for public review and comment on January
23, 2013 (78 FR 4835), also for 30 days. No comments were received.
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 determinations and taking into account the
public comments, NMFS issued its final determination on the three
tribal fishery Plans.
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
[[Page 43860]]
survival and recovery for the listed species.
Dated: July 17, 2013.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-17530 Filed 7-19-13; 8:45 am]
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