[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 101 (Friday, May 26, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24304-24306]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10827]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF400


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Applications for one new scientific research permit and five 
scientific research permit renewals.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received six scientific 
research permit application requests relating to Pacific salmon and 
steelhead. The proposed research is intended to increase knowledge of 
species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to help guide 
management and conservation efforts. The applications may be viewed 
online at: https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov/preview/preview_open_for_comment.cfm.

DATES: Comments or requests for a public hearing on the applications 
must be received at the appropriate address or fax number (see 
ADDRESSES) no later than 5 p.m. Pacific standard time on June 26, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the applications should be sent to the 
Protected Resources Division, NMFS, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Suite 1100, 
Portland, OR 97232-1274. Comments may also be sent via fax to 503-230-
5441 or by email to [email protected] (include the permit number 
in the subject line of the fax or email).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rob Clapp, Portland, OR (ph.: 503-231-
2314), Fax: 503-230-5441, email: [email protected]). Permit 
application instructions are available from the address above, or 
online at https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Species Covered in This Notice

    The following listed species are covered in this notice:
    Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): Endangered upper 
Columbia River (UCR); threatened Snake River (SR) spring/summer (spr/
sum).
    Steelhead (O. mykiss): Threatened UCR; threatened SR; threatened 
middle Columbia River (MCR), threatened Lower Columbia River (LCR).

Authority

    Scientific research 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 222-226). 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.

Applications Received

Permit 1379-7R

    The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) is seeking 
to renew a permit that currently allows them to take listed salmonids 
(UCR steelhead and Chinook) while conducting research designed to (1) 
increase what we know about the status and productivity of various fish 
populations, (2) collect data on migratory and exploitation (harvest) 
patterns, and (3) develop baseline information on various population 
and habitat parameters in order to guide salmonid restoration 
strategies. Much of the work in the permit has been conducted for 
nearly 20 years--first

[[Page 24305]]

under permit 1134, and then under six previous versions of 1379. The 
permit would comprise three studies: Project 1--Juvenile Upriver Bright 
Fall Chinook Sampling at the Hanford Reach; Project 2--Adult Sockeye 
Sampling at Tumwater and Wells Dams; and Project 3--Acoustic trawl 
survey for Lake Wenatchee juvenile sockeye salmon.
    The research, as a whole, would benefit listed fish by helping 
managers set in-river and ocean harvest regimes so that they have 
minimal impacts on listed populations. It would also help managers 
prioritize projects in a way that gives maximum benefit to listed 
species--including projects designed to help the listed fish recover. 
The researchers would use beach- and stick seines to capture and tag 
juvenile fish in the Hanford reach of the Columbia River and capture 
fish during mid-water trawls in Lake Wenatchee. Those fish that are not 
immediately released upon capture would be transported to a holding 
facility where they would be anesthetized, examined for marks, adipose-
clipped, coded wire tagged, allowed to recover, and released. The 
researchers would also collect, anesthetize, tissue-sample, and tag 
adult salmonids at Tumwater and Wells Dams in Washington State. The 
CRITFC researchers do not intend to kill any of the fish being captured 
but a small number may die as an unintended result of the activities.

Permit 13381-3R

    The Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) is seeking to renew 
their permit to annually take natural juvenile SR spring/summer Chinook 
salmon and SR steelhead in various places in the Salmon River drainage 
in Idaho and at Little Goose and Lower Granite Dams on the lower Snake 
River. The purpose of the research is to continue monitoring parr-to-
smolt survival and outmigration behavior in SR wild spring/summer 
Chinook salmon populations from Idaho. Steelhead juveniles that are 
inadvertently collected would also be tagged to help supplement an 
ongoing Idaho Department of Fish and Game study. The research would 
benefit the fish by continuing to supply managers with the information 
they need to budget water releases at hydropower facilities in ways 
designed to help protect migrating juvenile salmonids. The information 
gained would also be used to build long-term data sets on parr-to-smolt 
migration behavior and survival rates. This information, coupled with 
water quality, weather, and climate data, is intended to provide a 
foundation for understanding these populations' life histories--the 
knowledge of which is critical to building effective recovery actions. 
The listed fish would be captured (using seines, dip nets, and 
electrofishing), anesthetized, tagged, and released. A portion of these 
fish would also be re-captured at a smolt bypass facility, 
anesthetized, weighed, measured, and released. The researchers do not 
intend to kill any of the fish being captured, but a small percentage 
may die as an unintended result of the research activities.

Permit 13382-3R

    The NWFSC is seeking to renew for five years a permit that 
currently allows them to annually take juvenile threatened SR spr/sum 
Chinook salmon and juvenile threatened SR steelhead at various places 
in the Snake River in Idaho and in various streams of Southeast 
Washington and Northeast Oregon. Most of the activities under this 
permit have been under way for nearly 20 years--first under Permit 1406 
and then under previous versions of Permit 13382. Under the permit, the 
listed fish would be variously captured (using seines, dip nets, traps, 
and electrofishing), anesthetized, tissue sampled, weighed, measured, 
and released. They researchers would also add another study for this 
permit--one in which a small number of juvenile fish would be caught 
using electrofishing methods, anesthetized, and then held at varying 
temperature regimes to measure their cardiac performance. The fish 
would then in all cases be allowed to recover from the anesthetic and 
returned live to the place of their capture.
    The purposes of the research are therefore (1) to continue 
monitoring the effects of supplementation among steelhead and spring/
summer Chinook salmon populations in Idaho, and (2) measure cardiac 
performance in juvenile salmonids. The research would benefit the fish 
by continuing to supply managers with the information they need when 
seeking to use hatchery programs to conserve listed species. The 
researchers do not intend to kill any of the fish being captured, but 
some may die as an unintended result of the process.

Permit 17222-2R

    The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon 
(CTWSRO) are seeking a five-year permit to annually take MCR steelhead 
during the course of research designed to determine the feasibility of 
PIT-tagging juvenile summer/fall Chinook (a non-listed species) in the 
Deschutes River, Oregon. The purpose of the research is to generate 
population metrics such as juvenile growth rates, smolt-to-adult return 
ratios, size/condition at emigration, etc. This information would be 
used to develop performance indicators for monitoring the fishes' 
status and trends. This research would benefit listed species by 
helping managers develop a picture of river health and salmonid 
population trends in the Deschutes River. That information, in turn, 
would be used in recovery planning efforts and generally incorporated 
into resource management decisions that may affect the Deschutes River. 
The researchers intend to use seines to capture the fish and all 
captured MCR steelhead will be released immediately. The researchers do 
not propose to kill any of the listed salmonids being captured, but a 
small number may die as an unintended result of the activities.

Permit 17306-2R

    The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is seeking a 
five-year permit to capture threatened MCR steelhead (adults and 
juveniles) in the upper Deschutes River, Oregon. The various proposed 
activities would include adult and juvenile snorkel surveys throughout 
the basin, screw trapping, backpack and boat electrofishing and mark/
recapture studies, hook and line surveys, telemetry, seining, spawning 
ground surveys using weirs and redd counts, monitoring habitat 
restoration projects, and setting traps and nets in reservoirs for 
population monitoring. Data collected from this work would be used to 
inform management decisions in the Deschutes River watershed. 
Biologists from the ODFW have been conducting this work in the area for 
decades. The researchers do not intend to kill any of the fish being 
captured, but a small percentage may be killed as an inadvertent result 
of the activities.

Permit 21220

    The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is seeking a 
five-year permit to take adult and juvenile LCR steelhead while 
conducting in-depth ecosystem research at an aquatic monitoring site on 
Martha Creek on the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest in the State of 
Washington. The NEON researchers intend to collect a comprehensive 
suite of biotic and abiotic data at the site, including sampling for 
fish, macroinvertebrates, microbes, plants, algae, sediments, water 
quality, and reaeration. Additionally, they would make discharge 
measurements, conduct a

[[Page 24306]]

riparian habitat assessment and a morphological survey. The purpose of 
the research is to establish an ecological observatory with the goal of 
monitoring climate change, land use changes, and invasive species for 
the next 30 years.
    The researchers would use backpack electrofishing equipment to 
capture fish. The fish would then be anesthetized, identified, 
photographed, measured, allowed to recover, and released back to the 
stream. Some tissue samples may be taken as well. The research would 
benefit listed fish by generating long-term data sets on the animals' 
health, abundance, and status in general. Those data, in turn, would be 
used to inform management decisions on the Gifford-Pinchot National 
Forest and the lower Columbia River ecosystem. The researchers do not 
intend to kill any of the fish being captured, but a small percentage 
may be killed as an inadvertent result of the activities.
    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA. NMFS 
will evaluate the applications, associated documents, and comments 
submitted to determine whether the applications meet the requirements 
of section 10(a) of the ESA and Federal regulations. The final permit 
decisions will not be made until after the end of the 30-day comment 
period. NMFS will publish notice of its final action in the Federal 
Register.

    Dated: May 22, 2017.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-10827 Filed 5-25-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P