[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 42 (Thursday, March 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11192-11193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04669]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XE472
Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; availability of joint state/tribal hatchery plans and
request for comment.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Washington Department of Fish
and Wildlife, the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, the Skokomish Tribe, and
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service have submitted 10 Hatchery
and Genetic Management Plans, to be considered jointly, 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 in the Hood Canal region of
Washington State. This document serves to notify the public of the
availability for comment of the proposed evaluation of the Secretary of
Commerce (Secretary) as to whether implementation of the joint plans
will appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery of ESA-
listed Puget Sound Chinook salmon and Puget Sound steelhead.
This notice further advises the public of the availability for
review of a draft Environmental Assessment of the effects of the NMFS
determination on the subject joint plans.
DATES: Comments must be received at the appropriate address or fax
number (see ADDRESSES) no later than 5 p.m. Pacific time on April 4,
2016.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the proposed evaluation and pending
determination should be addressed to the NMFS Sustainable Fisheries
Division, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Portland, OR 97232. Comments may be
submitted by email. The mailbox address for providing email comments
is: [email protected]. Include in the subject line of
the email comment the following identifier: Comments on Hood Canal
hatchery programs.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charlene Hurst at (503) 230-5409 or by
email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ESA-Listed Species Covered in This Notice
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): Threatened, naturally
produced and artificially propagated Puget Sound.
Steelhead (O. mykiss): Threatened, naturally produced and
artificially propagated Puget Sound.
Chum salmon (O. keta): Threatened, naturally produced and
artificially propagated Hood Canal summer-run.
Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus): Threatened Puget Sound/
Washington Coast.
Background
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Port Gamble
S'Klallam Tribe, the Skokomish Tribe, and the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service have submitted to NMFS plans for 10 jointly operated
hatchery programs in
[[Page 11193]]
the Hood Canal region. The plans were submitted from November 2012 to
September 2013, pursuant to limit 6 of the 4(d) Rule for ESA-listed
salmon and steelhead. The hatchery programs release ESA-listed Chinook
salmon and steelhead and non-listed fall Chinook, coho, fall chum, and
pink salmon into the Hood Canal region. Nine of the ten programs are
currently operating; the Hamma Hamma Chinook Supplementation program is
expected to resume in the near future.
As required by the ESA 4(d) Rule (65 FR 42422, July 10, 2000, as
updated in 70 FR 37160, June 28, 2005), the Secretary is seeking public
comment on her pending determination as to whether the joint plans for
hatchery programs in Hood Canal would appreciably reduce the likelihood
of survival and recovery of the ESA-listed Puget Sound salmon and
steelhead.
Under section 4(d) of the ESA, the Secretary is required to adopt
such regulations as she deems necessary and advisable for the
conservation of species listed as threatened. NMFS has issued a final
ESA 4(d) Rule for salmon and steelhead, adopting in Limit 6 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 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 artificial propagation activities if those activities are
managed in accordance with a joint 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 limit 6
of the 4(d) Rule, before the Secretary makes a decision on the joint
plan, the public must have an opportunity to review and comment on the
pending determination.
Authority
Under section 4 of the ESA, the Secretary of Commerce is required
to adopt such regulations as she 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, as updated in 70 FR
37160, June 28, 2005) specifies categories of activities that
contribute to the conservation of listed salmonids and sets out the
criteria for such activities. Limit 6 of the updated 4(d) Rule (50 CFR
223.203(b)(6)) further provides that the prohibitions of paragraph (a)
of the updated 4(d) Rule (50 CFR 223.203(a)) do not apply to activities
associated with a joint state/tribal artificial propagation plan
provided that the joint plan has been determined by NMFS to be in
accordance with the salmon and steelhead 4(d) Rule (65 FR 42422, July
10, 2000, as updated in 70 FR 37160, June 28, 2005).
Dated: February 29, 2016.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-04669 Filed 3-2-16; 8:45 am]
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