[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38672-38674]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17218]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Docket No. 170718681-7735-01]
RIN 0648-XF575


Endangered and Threatened Species; Initiation of a Status Review 
for Alewife and Blueback Herring Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)

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

ACTION: Notice of initiation of a status review; request for 
information.

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SUMMARY: We, NMFS, announce the initiation of a new status review of 
alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) 
to determine whether listing either species as endangered or threatened 
under the Endangered Species Act is warranted. A comprehensive status 
review must be based on the best scientific and commercial data 
available at the time of the review. Therefore, we are asking the 
public to provide such information on alewife and blueback herring that 
has become available since the listing determination in 2013.

DATES: To allow us adequate time to conduct this review, we must 
receive your information no later than October 16, 2017.

[[Page 38673]]


ADDRESSES: You may submit information for us to use in our status 
review, identifying it as ``Alewife and Blueback Herring Status Review 
(NOAA-NMFS-2017-0094),'' by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=[NOAA-NMFS-2017-0094], click the ``Comment Now'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
     Mail or hand-delivery: Submit written comments to Tara 
Trinko Lake, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great 
Republic Drive, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930.
    Instructions: Information sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All information received is a part of 
the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
http://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. We will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tara Trinko Lake at the above address, 
by phone at 978-282-8477 or [email protected], David Gouveia, 978-
281-9280 or [email protected], or Marta Nammack, 301-427-8469 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice announces our active review of 
alewife and blueback herring. On August 12, 2013, we determined that 
listing alewife and blueback herring as threatened or endangered under 
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) was not 
warranted (78 FR 48943). However, at that time, we committed to 
revisiting the status of both species in 3 to 5 years. The 3- to 5-year 
timeframe equated to approximately one generation time for these 
species, and allowed for time to complete ongoing scientific studies, 
including a river herring stock assessment update that was completed by 
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in August 2017.
    The Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice (the 
Plaintiffs) filed suit against us on February 10, 2015, in the U.S. 
District Court in Washington, DC, challenging our decision not to list 
blueback herring as threatened or endangered. The Plaintiffs also 
challenged our determination that the Mid-Atlantic stock complex of 
blueback herring is not a distinct population segment (DPS). On March 
25, 2017, the court vacated the blueback herring listing determination 
and remanded the listing determination to us. As part of a negotiated 
agreement with the Plaintiffs, we committed to publish a revised 
listing determination for blueback herring no later than January 31, 
2019. We also agreed to conduct a new status review and publish in the 
Federal Register a notice of the status review, soliciting new 
information.
    Background information about both species, including the 2013 
listing determination, is available on the NMFS Greater Atlantic 
Regional Fisheries Office Web site: https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/protected/pcp/soc/river_herring.html.

Determining if a Species Is Threatened or Endangered

    Paragraph (a)(1) of section 4 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1533) requires 
that we determine whether a species is endangered or threatened based 
on one or more of the five following factors: (1) The present or 
threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or 
range; (2) overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or 
educational purposes; (3) disease or predation; (4) the inadequacy of 
existing regulatory mechanisms; or (5) other natural or manmade factors 
affecting its continued existence. Paragraph (b) of ESA section 4 
requires that our determination be made on the basis of the best 
scientific and commercial data available after taking into account 
those efforts, if any, being made by any State or foreign nation, to 
protect such species.

Application of the Distinct Population Segment Policy

    In the application of the DPS policy, we are responsible for 
determining whether species, subspecies, or DPSs of marine and 
anadromous species are threatened or endangered under the ESA. If we 
are petitioned to list populations of a vertebrate species as DPSs, or 
if we determine that identifying DPSs may result in a conservation 
benefit to the species, we use the joint U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service-NMFS DPS policy (61 FR 4722; February 7, 1996) to determine 
whether any populations of the species meet the DPS policy criteria. 
Under this policy, in order to be considered a DPS, a population must 
be discrete from other conspecific populations, and it must be 
significant to the taxon to which it belongs. A group of organisms is 
discrete if physical, physiological, ecological or behavioral factors 
make it markedly separate from other populations of the same taxon. 
Under the DPS policy, if a population group is determined to be 
discrete, the agency may then consider whether it is significant to the 
taxon to which it belongs. Considerations in evaluating the 
significance of a discrete population include: (1) Persistence of the 
discrete population in an unusual or unique ecological setting for the 
taxon; (2) evidence that the loss of the discrete population segment 
would cause a significant gap in the taxon's range; (3) evidence that 
the discrete population segment represents the only surviving natural 
occurrence of a taxon that may be more abundant elsewhere outside its 
historical geographic range; or (4) evidence that the discrete 
population has marked genetic differences from other populations of the 
species.

Public Solicitation of New Information

    With this notice, we commence a status review of alewife and 
blueback herring to determine whether listing the species as endangered 
or threatened under the ESA is warranted. To ensure that our review of 
alewife and blueback herring is informed by the best available 
scientific and commercial information, we are opening a 60-day public 
comment period to solicit information to support our status review.
    For the status review to be complete and based on the best 
available scientific and commercial information, we request information 
on these species from governmental agencies, Native American Tribes, 
the scientific community, industry, and any other interested parties. 
We seek information on: (1) Species abundance; (2) species 
productivity; (3) species distribution or population spatial structure; 
(4) patterns of phenotypic, genotypic, and life history diversity; (5) 
habitat conditions and associated limiting factors and threats; (6) 
ongoing or planned efforts to protect and restore the species and their 
habitats; (7) the adequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms and 
whether protections are being implemented and are proving effective in 
conserving the species; (8) data concerning the status and trends of 
identified limiting factors or threats; (9) information concerning the 
impacts of environmental variability and climate change on survival, 
recruitment, distribution, and/or extinction risk; and (10) other new 
information, data, or corrections including, but not limited to, 
taxonomic or nomenclature changes, identification of erroneous 
information in the previous listing determination, and improved

[[Page 38674]]

analytical methods for evaluating extinction risk.
    In addition to the above requested information, we are interested 
in any information concerning protective efforts that have not yet been 
fully implemented or demonstrated as effective. Our consideration of 
conservation measures, regulatory mechanisms, and other protective 
efforts will be guided by the Services ``Policy for Evaluation of 
Conservation Efforts When Making Listing Decisions'' (PECE Policy) (68 
FR 15100; March 28, 2003). The PECE established criteria to ensure the 
consistent and adequate evaluation of formalized conservation efforts 
when making listing decisions under the ESA. This policy may also guide 
the development of conservation efforts that sufficiently improve a 
species' status so as to make listing the species as threatened or 
endangered unnecessary. Under the PECE the adequacy of conservation 
efforts is evaluated in terms of the certainty of their implementation, 
and the certainty of their effectiveness. Criteria for evaluating the 
certainty of implementation include whether: The necessary resources 
are available; the necessary authority is in place; an agreement is 
formalized (i.e., regulatory and procedural mechanisms are in place); 
there is a schedule for completion and evaluation; for voluntary 
measures, incentives to ensure necessary participation are in place; 
and there is agreement of all necessary parties to the measure or plan. 
Criteria for evaluating the certainty of effectiveness include whether 
the measure or plan: Includes a clear description of the factors for 
decline to be addressed and how they will be reduced; establishes 
specific conservation objectives; identifies necessary steps to reduce 
threats; includes quantifiable performance measures for monitoring 
compliance and effectiveness; employs principles of adaptive 
management; and is certain to improve the species' status at the time 
of listing determination. We request that any information submitted 
with respect to conservation measures, regulatory mechanisms, or other 
protective efforts that have yet to be implemented or show 
effectiveness explicitly address these criteria in the PECE.
    If you wish to provide your information for this status review, you 
may submit your information and materials electronically via email (see 
ADDRESSES section). We request that all information be accompanied by: 
(1) Supporting documentation such as maps, bibliographic references, or 
reprints of pertinent publications; and (2) the submitter's name, 
address, and any association, institution, or business that the person 
represents.

    Authority:  The authority for this action is the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16. U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

    Dated: August 10, 2017.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-17218 Filed 8-14-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P