[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 162 (Monday, August 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56605-56606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-19891]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE807


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Issuance of two scientific research permits.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued scientific 
research Permit 14808-2M and enhancement Permit 18181-2M to the 
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The authorized 
research and monitoring activities are intended to increase knowledge 
of the species listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) 
and to help guide management and conservation efforts. Rescue and 
relocation efforts are conducted in order to enhance the survival of 
ESA-listed species.

ADDRESSES: The approved application for each issued 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, Suite 5-100, Sacramento, 
California 95814 (Phone: (916) 930-3600, Fax: (916) 930-3629).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amanda Cranford, Sacramento, CA 
(Phone: 916-930-3706), Fax: 916-930-3629, email: 
[email protected]).

[[Page 56606]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Species Covered in This Notice

    The following listed species are covered in this notice:
    Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): threatened Central 
Valley spring-run (CVSR); endangered Sacramento River winter-run 
(SRWR).
    Steelhead (O. mykiss): threatened California Central Valley (CCV).
    North American green sturgeon (Acipenser medisrostris): threatened 
southern distinct population segment (SDPS).

Authority

    Scientific research and enhancement permits are issued in 
accordance with section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 
and regulations governing listed fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR 
parts 222-227). NMFS issues permits based on findings that such 
permits: (1) Are applied for in good faith; (2) if granted and 
exercised, would not operate to the disadvantage of the listed species 
that are the subject of the permit; and (3) are consistent with the 
purposes and policy of Section 2 of the ESA. The authority to take 
listed species is subject to conditions set forth in the permits.
    Anyone requesting a hearing on an application listed in this notice 
should set out the specific reasons why a hearing on that application 
would be appropriate (see ADDRESSES). Such hearings are held at the 
discretion of the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NMFS.

Permits Issued

Permit 14808-2M

    A notice of the receipt of an application for the modification of 
scientific research and enhancement Permit 14808 was published in the 
Federal Register on August 20, 2015 (80 FR 161). Permit 14808-2M was 
issued to CDFW on December 9, 2015 and expires on December 31, 2020. 
Permit 14808-2M authorizes take of CVSR Chinook salmon, SRWR Chinook 
salmon, CCV steelhead, and SDPS green sturgeon associated with 
scientific research and monitoring activities in Sacramento River and 
San Joaquin River basins. The permit modification was requested in 
order to refine sampling methods, increase take levels and address 
changes to the proposed procedures. Additionally, CDFW requested that 
all ongoing research and monitoring be consolidated into a single 
section 10(a)(1)(A) Permit to improve efficiencies associated with 
reporting. In addition to the juvenile emigration monitoring at Knights 
Landing, which aims to compile information on timing, composition 
(species/run), and relative abundance of juvenile Chinook salmon and 
steelhead emigrating from the Upper Sacramento River system into the 
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, CDFW requested that the following 
research and monitoring efforts be included under Permit 14808-2M: (1) 
The Central Valley Steelhead Monitoring Program, that includes studies 
targeting CCV steelhead throughout the Sacramento River and San Joaquin 
River basins in order to examine the distribution, abundance, and 
population trends of CCV steelhead and provide the data necessary to 
help assess progress towards restoration and recovery goals; and (2) 
the Upper Sacramento River Restoration Site Monitoring, which will 
establish baseline use at proposed restoration sites to help determine 
the success once restoration projects are implemented through juvenile 
presence/absence surveys at various sites within the Upper Sacramento 
River.

Permit 18181-2M

    A notice of the receipt of an application for the modification of 
enhancement Permit 18181 was published in the Federal Register on 
August 20, 2015 (80 FR 161). Permit 18181-2M was issued to CDFW on 
December 9, 2015 and expires on December 31, 2020. Permit 18181-2M 
authorizes take of CVSR Chinook salmon, SRWR Chinook salmon, CCV 
steelhead, and SDPS green sturgeon associated with enhancement 
activities in the Upper Sacramento River and associated tributaries in 
Shasta and Tehama counties, the Colusa Basin Drainage Canal (CBDC), 
Wallace and Fremont weirs in the Yolo Bypass, and Tisdale Weir in the 
Sutter Bypass. Permit 18181-2M includes additional rescue and 
monitoring efforts that routinely occur throughout California's Central 
Valley. Further, after conducting capture and relocation activities 
within the CBDC and at Wallace Weir, the project description, sampling 
methodologies and take estimates have been refined to better reflect 
the current rescue and enhancement operations. The primary purpose of 
this monitoring is to assess entrainment of ESA-listed salmonids and 
SDPS green sturgeon resulting from extreme environmental conditions and 
complex water operations within California's Central Valley. CDFW will 
assess the conditions leading to entrainment and determine whether 
rescue and relocation activities are warranted. The rescue and 
relocation efforts authorized under Permit 18181-2M are: (1) The CBDC 
Trapping and Relocation Operation, which aims to trap and relocate 
adult Chinook salmon and other species of management concern before 
they enter and become entrained within the CDBC; (2) Monitoring of 
Sacramento River Flood Control Project Weirs and Flood Relief 
Structures, where bypasses are surveyed after high flow events to 
determine the level of entrainment and if warranted rescues will be 
conducted, with a specific focus on Tisdale and Fremont weirs in the 
Sacramento River basin; and (3) Upper Sacramento River Redd Dewatering 
Surveys and Rescue of Stranded Juvenile Winter-run Chinook Salmon, 
which allows CDFW biologists to predict the flow at which redds will be 
dewatered on a redd-by-redd basis and conduct rescues if necessary.

    Dated: August 15, 2016.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-19891 Filed 8-19-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P