[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 53 (Monday, March 18, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19297-19298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05561]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD772]


Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

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

ACTION: Notice of receipt and availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has received a permit 
application (25803) from NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center 
Fisheries Ecology Division (FED) to continue hatchery activities 
associated with the Southern Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program 
(SCSCBP, or program) in accordance with its Hatchery and Genetic 
Management Plan (HGMP). The application has been submitted pursuant to 
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended. NMFS has also 
prepared a draft

[[Page 19298]]

environmental assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) describing the potential effects of NMFS' proposed issuance 
of the Permit associated with the submitted HGMP. NMFS is furnishing 
this notice in order to allow other agencies, Tribes, and the public an 
opportunity to review and comment on these documents.

DATES: Written comments on the EA must be received at the appropriate 
address (see ADDRESSES) on or before 5 p.m. Pacific standard time on 
April 17, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the permit application and draft 
EA by the following methods:
     Email: Include ``Permit 25803'' in the subject line. 
[email protected].
     Mail: Submit written comments to National Marine Fisheries 
Service, West Coast Region, Coastal California Office, 777 Sonoma 
Avenue, Room 325, Santa Rosa, California 95404; Attn: Joel Casagrande.
     The permit application, and attached HGMP, may be viewed 
online at: https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov/preview/preview_open_for_comment.cfm.
     The draft EA document is available at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/protected-resource-regulations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joel Casagrande, Santa Rosa, CA, (707) 
575-6016, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

ESA-Listed Species Covered in This Notice

    Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch): Endangered, Central California 
Coast (CCC) Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU).

Background

    The FED has applied for an enhancement permit under section 
10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA for a period of 10 years that would allow take 
of multiple life stages of CCC coho salmon. Hatchery activities would 
be permitted pursuant to the HGMP for the SCSCBP, which is attached to 
the application.
    The purpose of the SCSCBP is to advance the conservation, 
viability, and recovery of the CCC coho salmon ESU, with an emphasis on 
populations in the Santa Cruz Mountains Diversity Stratum. The 
activities proposed for the SCSCBP are consistent with both the Federal 
recovery plan and state recovery strategy for coho salmon. The SCSCBP 
directly addresses recovery action ScC-CCC-10.1.1.6 in the Final CCC 
Coho Salmon ESU Recovery Plan (NMFS 2012) by using captive rearing to: 
reduce the risk of extinction due to genetic and demographic processes; 
preserve locally adapted phenotypes and genotypes; and promote regional 
recovery via the release of hatchery fish into streams from which they 
have been extirpated.
    The program is jointly operated by FED and the Monterey Bay Salmon 
and Trout Project (MBSTP), with technical support provided by U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, NMFS, and the California Department of Fish and 
Wildlife. The program consists of the following main activities: 
broodstock collection; propagation; tissue collection for genetic 
analyses and other pathology screenings; captive rearing of coho 
salmon; fish marking and tagging; and the release of coho salmon (egg 
to adult life stages) into program streams in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
    The broodstock are derived predominantly from hatchery-reared coho 
salmon juveniles from artificial propagation, as well as a small number 
of natural-origin coho salmon from coastal streams of the Santa Cruz 
Mountains, and a small number of coho salmon from the Russian River 
Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program (natural origin fish sourced 
from the Russian River or Lagunitas/Olema Creek basins) used as 
outbreeders to improve genetic diversity. Captive broodstock are 
initially propagated and reared at the Kingfisher Flat Hatchery (KFH) 
in Santa Cruz County until they are yearlings, whereupon they are 
divided among three facilities and subsequently reared to maturity. The 
three facilities are: KFH; Don Clausen Fish Hatchery in Sonoma County; 
and FED laboratory facility in the City of Santa Cruz, California. 
Previously, the FED and MBSTP conducted program activities under 
section 10 (a)(1)(A) permits 1112 and 1083, respectively.
    Activities that constitute take of CCC coho salmon and would be 
permitted include: (1) handling and transport of broodstock and 
production fish between program facilities and the natural environment; 
(2) captive rearing and associated activities, including tissue sample 
collection, marking, and tagging; and (3) sacrifice for artificial 
propagation and routine pathology screenings. The HGMP includes 
measures to minimize take and both genetic and ecological effects to 
naturally produced CCC coho salmon and CCC steelhead (O. mykiss) 
resulting from operations at the facilities and as a result of fish 
releases into program streams.

References Cited

    National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). 2012. Final Recovery Plan 
for Central California Coast coho salmon Evolutionarily Significant 
Unit. National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Region, Santa Rosa, 
California.

Authority

    Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations prohibit the taking of 
a species listed as endangered or threatened. The ESA defines ``take'' 
to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, 
or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. NMFS may issue 
permits for scientific purposes or for the enhancement of the 
propagation or survival of the affected endangered or threatened 
species authorizing the taking, importation, or other acts otherwise 
prohibited by section 9 of the Act (50 CFR 222.308). The final permit 
decision 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.
    NEPA requires Federal agencies to conduct an environmental analysis 
of their proposed actions to determine if the actions may affect the 
human environment (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; 40 CFR 1500-1508; and 
Companion Manual for NOAA Administrative Order 216-6A). Therefore, NMFS 
is seeking public input on the scope of the required NEPA analysis in 
the EA, including the range of reasonable alternatives and associated 
impacts of any alternatives.

    Dated: March 12, 2024.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-05561 Filed 3-15-24; 8:45 am]
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