[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 53 (Monday, March 20, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 14735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6785]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 031495E]
Endangered Species; Permits
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of two applications for scientific research
permits (P497C and P45S) and receipt of an application for Modification
4 to scientific research Permit 817 (P45K).
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Notice is hereby given that Dr. Theodore Bjornn of the Idaho
Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (ICFW) in Moscow, ID, in
association with Lowell Stuehrenberg of NMFS, and Stanley Smith of the
National Biological Service (NBS) in Cook, WA have applied in due form
for scientific research permits (P497C and P45S respectively) and that
Stanley Smith of NBS has applied for Modification 4 to scientific
research Permit 817 (P45K) to take listed species as authorized by
section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531-
1543) and the NMFS regulations governing listed fish and wildlife
permits (50 CFR parts 217-227).
ICFW requests an ESA section 10 permit to capture adult,
endangered, Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus
tshawytscha) to test the efficiency of Merwin traps at six sites
downstream of Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River under variable flow
conditions. The Merwin traps will be used for a study, which will begin
in 1996, to evaluate the passage of migrating adult salmon and
steelhead around the dams and through the reservoirs on the lower
Columbia River and the lower Snake River. The adult anadromous fish
will be migrating to upstream natal tributaries to spawn. A separate
ESA section 10 permit will be requested for the study. The requested
duration of this permit is mid-April to the end of May and mid-June to
the end of July in 1995 only.
NBS requests an ESA section 10 scientific research permit to take
juvenile, endangered, artificially propagated Snake River spring/summer
chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) as part of a study designed
to provide managers with data on the distribution, abundance, movement,
and habitat use by the anadromous fish that migrate through Lower
Granite Reservoir. The study will provide detailed information on the
response of migrating smolts to environmental changes that attend
proposed reservoir drawdown and other river regulation scenarios.
Project objectives and sampling plans will accommodate endangered
species recovery needs and constraints. The juvenile fish to be used
for the study will be collected at trap sites and by using purse
seines, tagged with radio transmitters, and monitored electronically
for their migratory patterns as far downriver as possible. The annual
dates of collection will be from April 1 to May 26. The requested
duration of the permit is 4 years.
Permit 817 authorizes NBS to take juvenile, endangered, Snake River
fall and spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) as
part of a study designed to assess the migration timing of juvenile
anadromous salmon using passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and
Panjet marks. For Modification 4, NBS requests an increase in the
number of their annual authorized take and approval to use an
additional sampling gear type. The increase in the annual take is
requested to obtain a sufficient sample size to estimate the migration
timing of fish produced in the upper Snake and Clearwater Rivers to
Lower Monumental Dam on the lower Snake River. Similar increases in the
authorized take for this permit were processed in 1993 and 1994. In
addition, NBS requests approval to use modified fyke nets instead of
beach seines to capture fish for tagging and to assess nearshore
movements of the marked fish in the Snake and Clearwater Rivers.
Modification 4 is requested for the duration of the permit. The permit
expires on December 31, 1996.
Written data or views, or requests for a public hearing on these
applications should be submitted to the Chief, Endangered Species
Division, Office of Protected Resources, F/PR8, NMFS, 1315 East-West
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226, within 30 days of the
publication of this notice. Those individuals requesting a hearing
should set out the specific reasons why a hearing on this particular
application would be appropriate. The holding of such hearing is at the
discretion of the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA. All
statements and opinions contained in this application summary are those
of the applicant and do not necessarily reflect the views of NMFS.
Documents submitted in connection with the above application are
available for review by interested persons in the following offices by
appointment:
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, NOAA, 1315 East-West Highway,
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 (301-713-1401); and
Environmental and Technical Services Division, NMFS, NOAA, 525
North East Oregon St., Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232 (503-230-5400).
Dated: March 14, 1995.
Russell J. Bellmer,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-6785 Filed 3-17-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
