[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 36 (Monday, February 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10102-10103]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03806]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD142


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Issuance of four scientific research and enhancement permits.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued Permit 17913 to 
Stillwater Sciences, Permit 17551 and Permit 18181 to the California 
Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and Permit 1415 to the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

ADDRESSES: The approved application for each permit is available on the 
Applications and Permits for Protected Species (APPS), https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov Web site by searching the permit number within the 
Search Database page. The applications, issued permits and supporting 
documents are also available upon written request or by appointment: 
NMFS West Coast Region, 650 Capitol Mall, Room 5-100, Sacramento, CA 
95814 ph: (916) 930-3600, fax: (916) 930-3629.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amanda Cranford at (916) 930-3706, or 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority

    The issuance of permits and permit modifications, as required by 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) (ESA), is 
based on a finding that such permits/modifications: (1) Are applied for 
in good faith; (2) Would not operate to the disadvantage of the listed 
species which are the subject of the permits; and (3) Are consistent 
with the purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA. 
Authority to take listed species is subject to the conditions set forth 
in the permits. Permits and modifications are issued in accordance with 
and are subject to the ESA and NMFS regulations (50 CFR parts 222-226) 
governing listed fish and wildlife permits.

Species Covered in This Notice

    This notice is relevant to federally endangered Sacramento River 
(SR) winter-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhyncus tshawytscha), threatened 
Central Valley (CV) spring-run Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), 
threatened California Central Valley (CCV) steelhead (O. mykiss), and 
threatened southern distinct population segment (SDPS) of North 
American green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris).

Permits Issued

Permit 17913

    A notice of the receipt of an application for a scientific research 
and enhancement permit (17913) was published in the Federal Register on 
March 28, 2013 (78 FR 18963). Permit 17913 was issued to Stillwater 
Sciences on September 6, 2013 and expires on December 31, 2018.
    Permit 17913 is for two studies to be carried out in the Tuolumne 
River between river mile (RM) 52.5 and RM 0, and in the San Joaquin 
River between RM 79 (Gardner Cove) and RM 90 (Laird Park). The Tuolumne 
River fisheries monitoring project will evaluate and

[[Page 10103]]

measure ESA-listed salmonid and non-listed fish species distribution, 
population abundance, habitat utilization, and habitat quality in the 
lower Tuolumne River in Stanislaus County, California. This project 
will monitor the effects of water diversion facilities maintained by 
the Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts on ESA-listed salmonids 
and non-listed fish species and the effects of past and ongoing habitat 
restoration actions to provide information and guide future habitat 
restoration and management actions within the Tuolumne River watershed. 
This study includes observational snorkel surveys as well as direct 
collection and handling of juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon and CCV 
steelhead using beach seine methods. Any captured juvenile CCV 
steelhead will be handled (sedated and measured for length and weight), 
placed in an aerated bucket to recover, and released downstream of the 
capture site.
    The Tuolumne River O. mykiss Temperature Adaptation Assessment 
project will examine temperature tolerances of juvenile salmonid life 
stages that inhabit the lower Tuolumne River. Fish collected for this 
project may potentially include ESA-listed CCV steelhead. Up to 50 
juvenile O. mykiss will be collected from the Tuolumne River during 
summer months (June-September) of each year using beach seine methods 
between La Grange powerhouse (RM 52.2) and Roberts Ferry Bridge (RM 
39.5). Individual test fish will be placed in Brett swim tubes and 
tested for physiological performance, measuring both a routine, or 
resting (minimum) respiratory rate and a swimming (maximum) respiratory 
rate at a single test temperature. Test fish would be allowed to fully 
recover prior to release in the lower Tuolumne River.

Permit 17551

    A notice of the receipt of an application for a scientific research 
and enhancement permit (17551) was published in the Federal Register on 
March 28, 2013 (78 FR 18963). Permit 17551 was issued to the CDFW's 
Region II on September 9, 2013 and expires on December 31, 2018.
    The overall goal of this project is to increase knowledge with 
regards to the behavior of young of the year and yearling SDPS green 
sturgeon from the Sacramento River and their presumed nursery grounds 
of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and subsequently the ocean staging 
habitat of San Francisco Bay. Information on timing, survival, and 
transition rates through the bay and Delta region are necessary for 
understanding potential risks to juvenile green sturgeon.
    The study proposed for Permit 17551 will be a collaborative effort 
between the University of California Davis Biotelemetry Laboratory and 
CDFW. Objectives are to: (1) Develop capture methods for monitoring of 
juvenile green and white sturgeon in the lower Sacramento River and 
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; (2) Describe spatial and temporal 
movements during emigration from the lower Sacramento River to the 
tidally influenced reaches of the upper Delta; (3) Assess the seasonal 
migration and survival through engineered flood plains (Yolo Bypass); 
and (4) Describe spatial and temporal use of the Sacramento-San Joaquin 
Delta and behavior and emigration timing to San Francisco Bay. CDFW is 
proposing to capture (tangle nets, modified fyke nets), handle (measure 
lengths and weights, surgical implantation of acoustic tags), and 
release juvenile SDPS green sturgeon once adequately recovered.

Permit 18181

    A notice of the receipt of an application for a scientific research 
and enhancement permit (18181) was published in the Federal Register on 
September 25, 2013 (78 FR 59005). Permit 18181 was issued to the CDFW's 
Region II on January 14, 2014 and expires on December 31, 2018.
    The primary purpose of Permit 18181 will be to assess entrainment 
following inundation at weir structures in the Central Valley during 
high flow events and within the Colusa Basin Drainage Canal (CBDC). If 
entrainment occurs, fish will be rescued and relocated to the lower 
Sacramento River near Tisdale Weir, in Sutter County, California. The 
objectives of the proposed rescue and monitoring are to: (1) Capture, 
tag and relocate SR winter-run Chinook salmon and other species of 
management concern in the lower reaches of the CBDC or at Wallace Weir 
within the Yolo Bypass to estimate the number of fish entering the 
CBDC; (2) Construct and place modified fyke traps at key locations 
within the interior of the CBDC system to capture, tag and relocate 
stranded fish if the weirs lower in the system are not successful at 
stopping fish; (3) Assess the level of entrainment behind Fremont and 
Tisdale weirs and evaluate the survival and behavior of entrained 
adults that are rescued and relocated following increased flows and 
flooding; and (4) Identify conditions resulting in high levels of 
entrainment specific to each location.
    The take associated with rescue and research activities involving 
ESA-listed salmonids and SDPS green sturgeon will include: capture 
(resistance board weir, fyke traps, block nets, hoop nets, beach 
seines), handling (measurements, weights, fin clips for genetic 
analysis, application of Floy tags, surgical implantation of acoustic 
tags), transport (if applicable) and the release of ESA-listed 
salmonids and SDPS green sturgeon back into the Sacramento River.

Permit 1415

    A notice of the receipt of an application for modification of a 
scientific research and enhancement permit (1415) was published in the 
Federal Register on September 25, 2013 (78 FR 59005). Permit 1415 was 
issued to the USFWS, Red Bluff Fish and Wildlife Office on February 6, 
2014 and expires on December 31, 2018.
    The overall purpose of the projects is to provide monitoring data 
for various evaluations, including restoration actions, stream flow 
assessments, management actions, and life-history investigations. 
Species under investigation include SR winter-run Chinook salmon, CV 
spring-run Chinook salmon, CCV steelhead, and SDPS green sturgeon. 
Streams targeted for research and monitoring include Battle Creek, 
Clear Creek, and the mainstem of the upper Sacramento River (i.e., 
upper river and surrounding watersheds).
    Take resulting from the proposed research and monitoring activities 
will involve observations (snorkel surveys, redd counts and escapement/
stream surveys) or capture (by trawl, seine, fyke-net trap, benthic D-
net, substrate samplers, hook and line, backpack electrofishing, weir 
trap, trammel or gill net, rotary screw trap, egg mats, or by dip net), 
handling (sedation, fin clipping, tissue sampling, coded-wire tag 
extraction, otolith extraction), marking (Bismark brown Y stain), 
tagging (acoustic, passive integrated transponder [PIT]), and release 
of fish in association with eight separate projects.

    Dated: February 19, 2014.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-03806 Filed 2-21-14; 8:45 am]
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