[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4546-4547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-01567]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD738


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 joint resource management plan (RMP), 
represented by five Hatchery and Genetic Management Plans (HGMPs), 
submitted by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the Washington 
Department of Fish and Wildlife to NMFS pursuant to the limitation on 
take prohibitions for actions conducted under Limit 6 of the 4(d) Rule 
for salmon and steelhead promulgated under the Endangered Species Act 
(ESA). The plans specify the propagation of five species of salmon and 
steelhead in the Elwha River of Washington state. This document serves 
to notify the public that NMFS, by delegated authority from the 
Secretary of Commerce, has determined pursuant to Limit 6 of the ESA 
4(d) Rule for salmon and steelhead that implementing and enforcing the 
RMP will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery 
of ESA-listed Puget Sound Chinook salmon and Puget Sound steelhead.

DATES: The final determination on the plans was made on January 9, 
2015.

ADDRESSES: Written responses to the determination should be sent to 
Sustainable Fisheries Division, 1201 NE., Lloyd Boulevard, Suite 1100, 
Portland, OR 97232.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Tynan at (360) 753-9579 or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

ESA-Listed Species Covered in This Notice

    Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): threatened, Puget Sound, 
naturally produced and artificially propagated.
    Steelhead (O. mykiss): threatened, Puget Sound, naturally produced 
and artificially propagated.

Background

    The plans describe hatchery operations intended to protect five 
species of salmon and steelhead (two of them ESA-listed) during the 
removal of two dams on the Elwha River, and subsequent propagation 
intended to enhance the rebuilding of those salmonid species. Four of 
the plans are submitted by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and one by 
the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW); the plans were 
developed jointly by the Tribe and the WDFW. NMFS has determined that 
implementing and enforcing the RMP will not appreciably reduce the 
likelihood of survival and recovery of ESA-listed Puget Sound Chinook 
salmon or Puget Sound steelhead.
    As required by Sec.  223.203(b)(6) of the ESA 4(d) Rule, NMFS must 
determine pursuant to 50 CFR 223.209 and pursuant to the government-to-
government processes therein whether the RMP for Elwha River basin 
hatcheries would appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and 
recovery of the Puget Sound Chinook Salmon ESU or Puget Sound Steelhead 
DPS. NMFS must take comments on how the RMP addresses the criteria in 
Sec.  223.203(b)(5) in making that determination.

Discussion of the Biological Analysis Underlying the Determination

    The proposed hatchery activities described in the RMP are intended 
to conserve salmon and steelhead populations in the Elwha River basin 
during operations to remove two dams on the Elwha River, and for a 
period of time after the dams have been removed, as the salmonid 
habitat is restored. The RMP provides the framework through which the 
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the State of Washington can jointly 
manage Elwha River salmon and steelhead hatchery, monitoring, and 
evaluation activities while meeting requirements specified under the 
ESA. The proposed action covers continued operation of the five 
hatchery programs over the initial phases of fish restoration in the 
Elwha River--the preservation and recolonization phases--with 
transitions between phases gauged by achievement of population 
viability parameters for listed Chinook salmon and steelhead. Using 
native Elwha River fish as broodstock, the programs would continue to 
be operated to minimize any impacts on genetic integrity of the natural 
salmon and steelhead populations while providing the intended benefits. 
The benefits include preserving and assisting in the recolonization of 
the indigenous populations of Elwha River salmon and steelhead in the 
wake of dam removal when natural productivity conditions will be poor. 
The hatchery programs would add marine-derived nutrients to the aquatic 
and terrestrial ecosystems above Glines Canyon Dam, which were 
inaccessible to salmon and steelhead from the early 1900s until 
completion of dam removal in 2014. The programs would increase total 
and natural-origin abundance and spatial structure of the Chinook 
salmon and steelhead populations as hatchery-origin fish of the same 
native lineage return to spawn naturally with fish produced naturally, 
and as new habitat becomes available. The hatchery programs would 
protect the Elwha River salmon and steelhead populations when turbidity 
and bedload movement levels are high and detrimental to natural-origin 
fish survival due to dam removal activities. The proposed plans are 
interrelated and interdependent through shared population preservation 
and recolonization objectives and effects, broodstock collection 
locations and actions, fish rearing and release sites, monitoring and 
evaluation actions, and funding sources.
    The RMP includes provisions for annual reports that will assess 
compliance with performance standards established through the RMP. 
Reporting and inclusion of new information derived from RMP research, 
monitoring, and evaluation activities provides assurance that 
performance standards will be achieved in future seasons.

[[Page 4547]]

NMFS' evaluation is available on the Sustainable Fisheries Division Web 
site at http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/.

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 RMP for public review and comment on August 5, 
2014 (79 FR 45426). The proposed evaluation and pending determination 
and an associated draft environmental assessment were available for 
public review and comment for 30 days.
    NMFS received no comments in response to the notice. However, NMFS 
did receive comments from one environmental group pertaining to the 
proposed evaluation and pending determination on the RMP in response to 
a prior, separate notice published to announce availability for public 
review of NMFS's draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment for the 
RMP (79 FR 35318, June 20, 2014). NMFS considered these comments in 
completing the final Evaluation and Recommended Determination document, 
but no substantive changes were required to the RMP. A detailed summary 
of the comments and NMFS' responses is also available on the 
Sustainable Fisheries Division Web site. Based on its evaluation and 
recommended determination and taking into account the public comments, 
NMFS issued its final determination on the Elwha River basin salmon and 
steelhead hatchery RMP.

Authority

    Under section 4 of the ESA, the Secretary of Commerce is required 
to adopt such regulations as he deems necessary and advisable for the 
conservation of species listed as threatened. The ESA salmon and 
steelhead 4(d) Rule (65 FR 42422, July 10, 2000) specifies categories 
of activities that contribute to the conservation of listed salmonids 
and sets out the criteria for such activities. The Rule further 
provides that the prohibitions of paragraph (a) of the Rule do not 
apply to actions undertaken in compliance with a RMP developed jointly 
by the State of Washington and the Tribe and determined by NMFS to be 
in accordance with the salmon and steelhead 4(d) Rule (65 FR 42422, 
July 10, 2000).

     Dated: January 23, 2015.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-01567 Filed 1-27-15; 8:45 am]
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