[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 10, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62516-62517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24572]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XB567]


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Notice of availability; proposed evaluation and pending 
determinations for five resource management plans in the Hood Canal 
Basin.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has drafted Proposed 
Evaluation and Pending Determinations (PEPD) for five resource 
management plans (RMPs) for the rearing and releasing Chinook salmon, 
coho salmon, and chum salmon, and for research of Puget Sound Steelhead 
in the Hood Canal Basin of Washington State. The RMPs are in the form 
of hatchery and genetic management plans (HGMPs) for hatchery programs 
operated by Long Live the Kings (LLTK), the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe 
(PGST), the Skokomish Tribe (ST), and Washington Department of Fish and 
Wildlife (WDFW). In 2016 NMFS certified that the five HGMPs satisfied 
limit 6 of the 4(d) rule. The revised HGMPs will replace the versions 
of the same plans now in place. NMFS is notifying the public of the 
availability and opportunity to comment on PEPDs for the new programs. 
The hatchery programs are intended to contribute to fulfilling Federal 
tribal trust responsibilities and treaty rights guaranteed through 
treaties and affirmed in U.S. v. Washington (1974). The program 
operators submitted revised HGMPs for the following changes: (1) 
Improve the available forage to southern resident killer whales; and 
(2) investigate genetic diversity of Puget Sound Steelhead and the 
effects of release timing on marine survival of fall Chinook salmon.

[[Page 62517]]


DATES: Comments must be received at the appropriate address (see 
ADDRESSES) no later than 5 p.m. Pacific time on December 10, 2021. 
Comments received after this date may not be considered.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to the NMFS Sustainable 
Fisheries Division, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Portland, OR 97232. Comments 
may be submitted by email. The mailbox address for providing email 
comments is: [email protected]. Include in the subject 
line of the email comment the following identifier: Comments on Hood 
Canal hatchery programs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Sebring at (360) 819-7873 or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Endangered Species Act (ESA)-Listed Species Covered in This Notice

     Puget Sound Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): 
Threatened, naturally and artificially propagated;
     Puget Sound Steelhead (O. mykiss): Threatened, naturally 
and artificially propagated; and
     Hood Canal summer chum salmon (O. keta): Threatened.

Background

    Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations prohibit the 
``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or threatened. The term 
``take'' is defined under the ESA to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, 
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage 
in any such conduct. NMFS may make exceptions to the take prohibitions 
in section 9 of the ESA for programs that are approved by NMFS under 
the 4(d) rule for salmon and steelhead (50 CFR 223.203(b)).
    The operators and funding agencies, including the LLTK, PGST, ST, 
and WDFW, have submitted revised HGMPs to NMFS pursuant to NMFS' 4(d) 
rule of the ESA for hatchery activities. The operators propose to 
provide additional forage to southern resident killer whales, a species 
listed as endangered under the ESA that relies on adult salmon as a 
food resource. The operators of the Hood Canal steelhead 
supplementation program propose to investigate genetic effects of 
natural-origin steelhead dispersal throughout the Hood Canal Basin. The 
operators of the Hoodsport fall Chinook salmon program propose to 
investigate the effects of release timing on survival of adult fall 
Chinook salmon, a non-ESA-listed stock.
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 742a et seq.

    Dated: November 5, 2021.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-24572 Filed 11-9-21; 8:45 am]
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