[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]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P