[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 233 (Monday, December 5, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87548-87550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29068]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF053


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

[[Page 87549]]


ACTION: Notice of determination and availability of analysis documents 
on ten hatchery programs rearing salmon and steelhead in Hood Canal, 
Puget Sound, Washington State.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has evaluated ten Hatchery and Genetics Management Plans 
(HGMPs) submitted 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 HGMPs specify the propagation of Chinook, coho, pink, and 
fall chum salmon and steelhead in the Hood Canal watershed 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 plans will not appreciably reduce the 
likelihood of survival and recovery of Puget Sound Chinook salmon, Hood 
Canal summer chum, and Puget Sound steelhead.

DATES: The final determination on the HGMPs was made on October 17, 
2016.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the decision documents or any of the 
other associated documents should be directed to the Sustainable 
Fisheries Division, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, 1201 NE 
Lloyd Blvd., Suite 1100, Portland, Oregon 97232. The documents are also 
available on the Internet at www.westcoast.fisheries .noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charlene Hurst, Portland, Oregon, at 
phone number: (503) 230-230-5409, 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.
    Chum salmon (O. keta): Threatened, naturally produced and 
artificially propagated Hood Canal summer-run.

Background

    The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the Port 
Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, The Skokomish Tribe, the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service (USFWS), and NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service 
(NMFS) Northwest Fisheries Science Center submitted ten Hatchery and 
Genetics Management Plans (HGMP) for salmon and steelhead hatchery 
programs in Hood Canal. The ten HGMPs were submitted for review and 
determination under Limit 6 of the ESA 4(d) Rule, 50 CPR 223.203(b)(6) 
(65 FR 42422; July 10, 2000, as amended 70 FR 37160; June 28, 2012).
    Two of these programs are designed to preserve and bolster the 
natural spawning abundance of the native Hood Canal populations and 
contribute to recovery of the listed species. The remaining eights 
programs are operated for harvest augmentation purposes.
    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 ten plans for Hood Canal 
salmon and steelhead hatchery programs would appreciably reduce the 
likelihood of survival and recovery of the Puget Sound Chinook Salmon 
ESU, Hood Canal Summer Chum ESU, or Puget Sound Steelhead DPS. NMFS 
must take comments on how the plans address the criteria in Sec.  
223.203(b)(5) in making that determination.

Discussion of the Biological Analysis Underlying the Determination

    Two of the programs, the Hamma Hamma Chinook salmon and Hood Canal 
Steelhead Supplementation programs, provide conservation benefits for 
species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The remaining 
eight programs are implemented to help meet tribal fishery harvest 
allocations guaranteed through treaties, as affirmed in United States 
v. Washington (1974) and through Pacific Salmon Treaty harvest sharing 
agreements with Canada.
    The programs are intended to conserve native, ESA-listed and non-
listed populations of salmon and steelhead in Hood Canal. NMFS' 
Sustainable Fisheries Division prepared, pursuant to section 7 of the 
ESA, a biological opinion to evaluate the effects of the action on 
listed salmonids. As described in SFD's biological opinion, the 
approval of the HGMPs is not likely to jeopardize the continued 
existence or recovery of listed Puget Sound Chinook salmon, Hood Canal 
Summer Chum Salmon, or Puget Sound steelhead, nor result in the 
destruction or adverse modification of their critical habitat.
    The programs may also help attenuate impacts associated with 
climate change over the short-term by providing a refuge from adverse 
effects for the propagated species through circumvention of potentially 
adverse migration, natural spawning, incubation, and rearing 
conditions.
    The HGMPs include provisions for annual reports that will assess 
compliance with performance standards established through the HGMPs. 
Reporting and inclusion of new information derived from HGMP research, 
monitoring, and evaluation activities provides assurance that 
performance standards will be achieved in future seasons. NMFS' 
evaluation is available on the West Coast Region 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 plans for public review and comment on March 3, 
2016 (81 FR 11192). The proposed evaluation and pending determination 
and an associated draft environmental assessment were available for 
public review and comment for 30 days.
    During the public comment period, NMFS received one comment letter. 
None of the comments raised issues that required substantive 
modification of the NMFS 4(d) or NEPA documents. The comments and NMFS' 
detailed responses are available on the West Coast Region Web site, as 
an appendix to the environmental assessment. Based on its evaluation 
and recommended determination and taking into account the public 
comments, NMFS issued its final determination on the Hood Canal salmon 
and steelhead hatchery plans.

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 plan developed jointly 
by a state and a tribe and determined by NMFS to be in accordance with 
the salmon and steelhead 4(d) rule (65 FR 42422; July 10, 2000).


[[Page 87550]]


    Dated: November 30, 2016.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-29068 Filed 12-2-16; 8:45 am]
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