[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 134 (Thursday, July 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32283-32284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14950]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XG310


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Notice of final determination and discussion of underlying 
biological and environmental analyses; notice of availability of 
Finding of No Significant Impact.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has evaluated the joint resource management plan (RMP) 
submitted to NMFS by the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, Swinomish Indian 
Tribal Community, Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, the Skagit River System 
Cooperative, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 
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 RMP specifies harvest of 
ESA-listed, Skagit River steelhead in Treaty Indian fisheries and non-
treaty recreational fisheries in the Skagit River terminal area of 
Washington State. This document serves to notify the public that NMFS, 
by delegated authority from the Secretary of Commerce, had determined 
pursuant to Limit 6 of the 4(d) rule for salmon and steelhead that 
implementing and enforcing the RMP will not appreciably reduce the 
likelihood of survival and recovery of Puget Sound steelhead. In 
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NMFS also 
announces the availability of its Finding of No Significant Impact for 
the Skagit River steelhead fisheries determination.

DATES: The final determination of take prohibition limitation under the 
ESA was made on April 12, 2018. The Finding of No Significant Impact 
was signed on April 12, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the decision documents or any of the 
other associated documents should be directed to NOAA's National Marine 
Fisheries Service, West Coast Region, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 
510 Desmond Drive, Suite 103, Lacey, WA 98503. The documents are also 
available online at www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Dixon at (360) 534-9329 or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

ESA-Listed Species Covered in This Notice

    Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss): threatened, naturally produced and 
artificially propagated Puget Sound.
    Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha): threatened, naturally produced and 
artificially propagated Puget Sound.

Background

    The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, 
Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, and the Skagit River System Cooperative and 
the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have jointly submitted a 
steelhead fishery RMP 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 plan was submitted in November of 2016, pursuant to limit 6 
of the 4(d) Rule for ESA-listed salmon and steelhead. The RMP would 
manage the harvest of Skagit River natural-origin steelhead in the 
Skagit River and in the terminal marine area of the Skagit River. As 
required, NMFS took public comments on its recommended determination 
for how the plans address the criteria in Sec.  223.203(b)(5) prior to 
making its final determination.

Discussion of the Biological Analysis Underlying the Determination

    The goal of the Skagit RMP is to provide steelhead fishing 
opportunities for the Skagit River Treaty Tribes and for recreational 
fishers, in a manner that is conservative at higher run sizes and 
increasingly so at lower run sizes. For a period of five years, the 
Skagit RMP will implement annual steelhead fisheries in the Skagit 
terminal management area consistent with the impact limits, management 
framework, enforcement, and monitoring requirements, as described in 
the RMP. The Skagit RMP utilizes an abundance-based, stepped harvest 
regime to determine annual harvest rates, based on the annual 
forecasted run size. These stepped harvest rates range from a 4 percent 
total allowable harvest rate at low run sizes (<4,001 adults) to 25 
percent for runs greater than 8,001 adults.
    NMFS has analyzed the Skagit RMP's proposed abundance-based, 
stepped harvest regime, along with the conservation measures proposed 
in the plan. We have concluded that the Skagit RMP would provide 
effective protection to the Skagit River steelhead populations based on 
parameters defining a viable salmonid population; in terms of overall 
abundance and productivity, as well as the diversity and spatial 
structure of the individual populations within the Skagit River basin. 
The Skagit RMP will provide for the proposed harvest opportunities 
while not appreciably slowing the population's achievement of viable 
function.
    NMFS' determination on the Skagit RMP depends upon implementation 
of all of the monitoring, evaluation, reporting tasks or assignments, 
and

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enforcement activities included in the RMP. Reporting and inclusion of 
new information derived from research, monitoring, and evaluation 
activities described in the plan provide assurance that performance 
standards will be achieved in future seasons.

Summary of Comments Received in the Response to the Proposed Evaluation 
and Pending Determination

    NMFS published notice of its Proposed Evaluation and Pending 
Determination (PEPD) on the plan for public review and comment on 
December 7, 2017 (82 FR 57729). The PEPD was available for public 
review and comment for 30 days.
    During the public comment period, 121 comments were received, all 
by email. These came in the form of: Individual, unique comments; 
individuals who submitted form-letter communications, some with added 
comments; and letters from fish conservation organizations. NMFS 
thoroughly reviewed and considered all of the substantive comments 
received from the public and the additional literature and studies 
submitted. This review of new information and data informed NMFS' 
subsequent analysis, in its biological opinion, but did not lead to any 
changes to the Skagit RMP, as submitted, or to NMFS' determination that 
the plan adequately addresses the 4(d), Limit 6 criteria. A section 
summarizing and responding to the substantive comments received during 
the public comment period on the PEPD is included as part of the final 
evaluation document, available on the West Coast Region website. Based 
on its evaluation and recommended determination and taking into account 
the public comments, NMFS issued its final determination on the joint 
state-tribal plan.

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 (50 CFR 223.203(b)) 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).

Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-14950 Filed 7-11-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P