[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 100 (Friday, May 23, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28413-28415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-13697]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 227 and 425
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Parts 17 and 425
Endangered and Threatened Species; Reopening of Comment Period on
Proposed Threatened Status for a Distinct Population Segment of
Anadromous Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) in Seven Rivers
AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Commerce; and Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Reopening of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: The State of Maine formally submitted the Maine Atlantic
Salmon Conservation Plan (Plan) to the National Marine Fisheries
Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (collectively the
Services) on March 5, 1997, in response to the Services' proposal to
list Atlantic salmon in seven Maine rivers as threatened (60 FR 50530,
September 29, 1995). The Services have determined that the Plan is
significant new information relating to the proposed rule that merits
review and consideration under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The
Services also note that information and data collected since the
publication of the proposed rule is also available for review and has
become part of the record for the Services' evaluation of the proposed
listing. This information includes adult returns, redd counts, fry
stocking, habitat assessments, commercial fishing agreements and
management measures, and marine habitat assessment. Stocking, return
and habitat data are provided in the Annual Report of the U.S. Atlantic
Salmon Assessment Committee which is prepared annually for the U.S.
Section to North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization. The annual
field activity report prepared by the Maine Atlantic Salmon Authority
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also documents management
activities for the seven river populations. In order to ensure that the
public has an opportunity to comment on all phases of this proposed
listing, the Services are making the Plan available for review at
selected locations throughout New England and the Washington DC area
[[Page 28414]]
(see ADDRESSES) and can provide guidance on the availability of other
information. Because of the size of the Plan, the Services cannot send
copies upon request. However, the Services will provide the Executive
Summary of the Plan upon request. The Plan is also available for review
on-line and the address is provided below.
DATES: The public comment period is reopened for 30 days. All comments
should be received on or before June 23, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Please send any written comments to Mary Colligan, National
Marine Fisheries Service, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester,
Massachusetts 01930-2298, or Paul Nickerson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, Massachusetts 01035.
Individuals are also encouraged to send a copy of their comments to the
State of Maine at the following address: Henry Nichols, Maine Atlantic
Salmon Task Force, Land Use Regulatory Commission, 22 State House
Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0022.
As stated previously, the Plan is available on-line at the
following address: http://www.state.me.us/governor. Complete copies of
the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Plan are available for review at
the following locations:
1. University of Maine--Machias, Merrill Library, c/o Jean Clemons,
O'Brien Avenue, Machias, Maine 04654.
2. Ellsworth Public Library, c/o Patricia Foster, Director, 46
State Street, Ellsworth, Maine 04605.
3. Bangor Public Library, c/o Sue Wennrick, 145 Harlow Street,
Bangor, Maine 04401.
4. Calais Public Library, c/o Marilyn Diffin, Librarian, 1 Union
Street, Calais, Maine 04619.
5. Portland Public Library, Portland Room, c/o Tom Gaffney, 5
Monument Square, Portland, Maine 04101.
6. Maine State Library, c/o J. Gary Nichols, Librarian, 64 State
House Station, Augusta Complex, Augusta, Maine 04333-0064.
7. Pleasant River Hatchery, c/o Dwayne Shaw, Manager, Columbia
Falls, Maine 04623.
8. Maine Atlantic Salmon Authority, 650 State Street, Bangor, Maine
04401.
9. Camden Public Library, c/o Elizabeth Moran, Director, 55 Main
Street, Camden, Maine 04843.
10. Wiscasset Public Library, c/o Janet Morgan, High Street,
Wiscasset, Maine 04578.
11. Lincolnville Central School Library, c/o Suzanne Martell, Route
235, Lincolnville, Maine 04849.
12. National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Regional Office,
Habitat and Protected Resources Division, One Blackburn Drive,
Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930.
13. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive,
Hadley, Massachusetts 01035.
14. Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery, East Orland, Maine 04431.
15. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1033 South Main Street, Old
Town, Maine 04468.
16. National Marine Fisheries Services, Office of Protected
Resources, 1315 East West Highway, Room 13139, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
17. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Endangered Species,
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 452, Arlington, Virginia 22203.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Colligan at (508) 281-9116 or
Paul Nickerson at (413) 253-8615.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On September 29, 1995, the Services published a proposal to list a
distinct population segment, or species, of Atlantic salmon in the
Sheepscot, Ducktrap, Narraguagus, Pleasant, Machias, East Machias, and
Dennys Rivers in Maine as threatened. That proposed designation
contained a special 4(d) provision that invited the State of Maine to
develop a conservation plan for the species. The special 4(d) rule, as
proposed in the September notice (60 FR 50530, September 29, 1995)
would allow for a state plan, approved by the Services, to define the
manner in which certain activities could be conducted without violating
the ESA. Federal furloughs and legislative and funding restrictions
prevented the Services from immediately holding public hearings on the
proposed action. On August 27, 1996, the Services reopened the comment
period and announced three public hearings which were held in Maine on
September 17, 18 and 19. The Services received additional verbal and
written comments during that comment period which, together with all
information submitted by the public, are being reviewed by the Services
in making their final determination whether to list the distinct
population segment of Atlantic salmon as threatened.
Partly in response to the special 4(d) provision in the proposed
rule, the Governor of Maine issued an Executive Order creating a task
force to draft the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Plan. Biologists
from the Services were not members of the task force but did review the
draft Conservation Plan and provide comments. The task force and its
four subgroups have worked on the Plan since October 1995. The four
subgroups addressed the potential threats identified in the Status
Review for Anadromous Atlantic Salmon and the proposed rule. Each of
the subgroups (agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and recreational
fishing) examined its industry or activity to identify potential
impacts to Atlantic salmon and recommended actions to avoid, minimize
and mitigate such impacts. In the fall of 1996, the State held public
hearings on the executive summary of the Plan. Comments received during
that time were considered by the State in its final drafting of the
Plan. The Plan is a State action plan to provide for the protection and
conservation of Atlantic salmon and their habitat within the watersheds
of the seven Maine rivers identified by the Services in the proposed
rule.
Following closure of this comment period, the Services will make a
final determination as to whether listing is warranted, and, if so,
whether the Plan meets the criteria for a special 4(d) rule that could
be promulgated in combination with a final rule designating the
distinct population segment of Atlantic salmon as threatened under the
ESA. The Services request comments from the public specifically
addressing the Plan's effectiveness in meeting the criteria for
acceptance as a special 4(d) rule identified above and contained in
Section 10(a)(2)(B), 50 CFR 17.32(b)(2) and 50 CFR 222.22(c)(2).
In addition, the Services have been requested by the Governor of
Maine to determine that the Plan sufficiently addresses the existing
threats to Atlantic salmon such that its addition to the list of
threatened species is not warranted. The Services make determinations
whether a species is endangered or threatened based on their analysis
of the effect of the factors contained in section 4 of the ESA on the
species and after taking into account those efforts being made to
protect such species. The State-prepared plan is designed to address
those factors in order to prevent further decline. If, in their final
determination, the Services conclude under all of the required
provisions of section 4 of the ESA that the species is not likely to
become endangered in the foreseeable future, and therefore is not
``threatened'' as defined in the ESA, then they will make a finding
that listing is not warranted. This conclusion, while including an
evaluation of the State's conservation plan, must also include an
evaluation of the best scientific and
[[Page 28415]]
commercial data available, i.e. species abundance, new data received
during the comment period, re-evaluation of existing data, and other
federal and/or international efforts being taken to protect the
species.
To assist in their analysis of the species status, the Services
request any comments, which have not already been submitted, which
provide new information or data and/or reflect on the new information
and data that has become available since the publication of the
proposed rule, including the state Plan. Written comments may be
submitted on or before June 23, 1997 to either of the offices in the
ADDRESSES section of this notice. Individuals are also requested to
send a copy of their comments to the State of Maine.
Author: The primary authors of this notice are Mary Colligan and
Paul Nickerson (addresses are above).
Authority: The authority for this section is the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1531-1544).
Dated: May 15, 1997.
Patricia A. Montanio,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Dated: May 16, 1997.
Cathy Short,
Deputy Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 97-13697 Filed 5-22-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-M
