[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 88 (Thursday, May 7, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 25177-25178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12171]
[[Page 25177]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: One-year Finding
for a Petition To List the Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus)
in Eastern North America as Endangered or Threatened
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of one-year petition finding.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), announces a one-year
finding on a petition to add the harlequin duck (Histrionicus
histrionicus) in eastern North America to the List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife. After review of all available scientific and
commercial information, the Service finds that listing the harlequin
duck is not warranted at this time.
The Service has based this finding on the following: (1)
Prohibition of hunting since 1990 throughout the harlequin duck's
entire range in eastern North America; (2) lack of substantial
information indicating that the species' breeding, wintering, or
staging habitat is likely to be curtailed, modified or destroyed; (3)
lack of substantial information indicating that overutilization for
commercial, recreational, scientific or educational purposes is
significantly affecting the species; (4) lack of information indicating
that disease or predation is causing a significant loss of individuals
of the species; (5) lack of adequate information on population
discreteness, size, and other parameters to indicate the species is
likely at or below a minimum viable population size; (6) additional
protective measures undertaken by the States of Maine and Rhode Island
which decrease the likelihood of occurrence or the potential severity
of an oil spill in the species' wintering areas; (7) limited population
trend data indicating that the population has stabilized and is not
declining; and (8) current regulatory mechanisms which, under the
documented threats, adequately provide for the protection and
conservation of the species.
DATES: The finding announced in this notice was made on April 30, 1998.
Comments and information may be submitted until further notice.
ADDRESSES: Comments and materials regarding the petition finding may be
submitted to the Endangered Species Coordinator, Northeast Regional
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive,
Hadley, Massachusetts 01035. The 12-month petition finding, supporting
data, and comments are available for public inspection, by appointment,
during normal business hours at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Paul Nickerson at the above
address or telephone 413/253-8615.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Pursuant to section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), for any petition to revise
the Lists of Endangered or Threatened Wildlife and Plants that presents
substantial scientific and commercial information, the Service is
required to make a finding within 12 months of the date of receipt of
the petition. The finding is based on whether the petitioned action is:
(a) not warranted, (b) warranted, or (c) warranted but precluded from
immediate proposal by other pending proposals of higher priority. Such
12-month findings are to be published promptly in the Federal Register.
In a petition dated September 21, 1995, and received by the Service
on September 25, 1995, the Northern Rockies Biodiversity Project and
the Biodiversity Legal Foundation requested the Service to list the
eastern North America population of the harlequin duck as endangered or
threatened. The petition cited numerous threats to this taxon and its
breeding and feeding habitats, including: (1) Destruction of riparian
areas along breeding area streams; (2) destruction of watershed
stability and stream flow regime in breeding areas by mining, road
construction, or timber harvest; (3) inundation or elimination of
breeding habitat by river impoundment and/or diversion; and (4)
destruction of the larval insect food base through biting fly control
programs in the northeast. The petition states that oil spills, chronic
oil releases, and other coastal pollution pose a threat to the
harlequin duck's wintering habitat. The petition also suggests that
illegal and indiscriminate harvest is an imminent threat to the
population. The Service made an administrative finding on August 7,
1997 (62 FR 42473), that the petition contained substantial information
indicating that the requested action may be warranted.
Harlequin ducks are unique waterfowl in that they breed along fast-
flowing, turbulent rivers and streams. In eastern North America, the
species breeds along rivers in eastern Canada including the areas of
Hudson, James, and Ungava bays, and Labrador south to Newfoundland. In
winter, harlequin ducks are found exclusively in marine waters,
occurring at the outer headlands/raised shoals where they forage in
shallow water and rest, preen, and loaf in deeper water. The majority
of harlequin ducks in eastern North America winter in Maine, with
smaller numbers wintering south to Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Occasionally, scattered individuals can be found south to Virginia and
North Carolina.
Until recently, harlequin ducks in eastern North America were
thought to be one of four separate populations. The others are the
Pacific population, estimated at over 1 million individuals; the
Greenland population, estimated at 5000 breeding pairs; and the Iceland
population estimated at 3000-5000 breeding pairs. Recent limited data
indicate that the eastern North America population, estimated at 1500-
2000 individuals, may have some interchange with the Greenland
population.
The petitioners cited threats to the species' breeding and feeding
habitats. However, available information does not substantiate that
these threats currently exist or that there is a significant
probability that they will occur. As an example, the petition mentions
that nesting habitat could be inundated by hydroelectric development in
northern Quebec and Labrador. While the Service recognizes that past
hydroelectric development may have inundated harlequin duck nesting
habitat, the petitioners did not identify any proposed projects within
the species' known breeding range. The Service is aware of a previously
proposed hydroelectric project, the James Bay II Bienville in northern
Quebec, which would have impacted harlequin ducks. Of at least 153
breeding pairs found in the study area, 56 breeding pairs would have
been displaced by flooding and other related alterations to the area's
hydrology. However, the Quebec government has abandoned this project.
The Service also found no documentation to support that timber harvest,
mining, and construction activities impact breeding or foraging
habitat. These impacts are identified as ``potential,'' but specific
information on where these impacts have occurred, are occurring, or may
yet occur is not available.
[[Page 25178]]
The potential impact of a chemical or oil spill to wintering
harlequin ducks is dependent on several factors such as the location,
time of year, and type of chemical. The State of Maine may support up
to 800 wintering harlequin ducks or 50 percent of the known eastern
North America wintering population. The State has updated its
procedures for responding to spills to minimize environmental impacts.
These procedures were adopted following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in
Alaska in order to decrease the probability of such a disaster
occurring in Maine. The State of Rhode Island adopted new procedures
following the North Cape spill that occurred off the Rhode Island coast
in 1996. The State's Department of Environmental Management has
implemented procedures to manage single-hull tankers as they enter
Rhode Island waters. Legislation is pending that would require, by the
year 2001, all single-hull tankers to be escorted by a tugboat through
Rhode Island waters.
The Service finds that the species continues to occur throughout
its historical range in eastern North America. There is no evidence of
range reduction. Of the approximately 800 harlequin ducks that winter
in Maine, approximately 200 winter around Isle au Haut. The portion of
Isle au Haut where these ducks winter is part of Acadia National Park.
Approximately 95-120 birds winter in Rhode Island off Sachuest Point, a
National Wildlife Refuge. Federal ownership of these areas provides
some additional protection from threats such as illegal hunting and
habitat development, to the wintering harlequin duck population.
Since 1990, hunting for harlequin ducks has been prohibited
throughout the species' entire eastern North America range. Recent
analysis of population trend data indicate that the number of birds
wintering in Maine stopped declining between 1991 and 1992. Trends for
the last 2 years show the population gradually increasing. The Service
believes that the cessation of legal hunting has eliminated a
significant threat to the harlequin duck population and is likely
largely responsible for the recent increase in numbers of wintering
harlequin ducks in Maine. The petitioners state, and the Service
acknowledges, that some illegal harvest likely still occurs. However,
the petitioners provided no sources for their information and no
estimate on the actual numbers of harlequin ducks illegally taken. The
Service was not able to locate any data indicating that the extent of
this illegal harvest is significantly impacting, or is likely to
impact, the harlequin duck population.
On the basis of the best available scientific and commercial
information, the Service finds that listing the harlequin duck in
eastern North America is not warranted at the present time because the
species is not currently in danger of extinction and is not likely to
become so in the foreseeable future. Notwithstanding this finding, the
Service through its many programs (e.g., Migratory Birds and the North
American Waterfowl Management Plan) intends to continue to gather data,
participate in genetic studies and cooperate with the States of Maine
and Rhode Island and with Canada to ensure that the species continues
to receive adequate protection. Should new information become available
indicating that the species faces greater threats than currently exist,
this decision will be revisited to determine whether protection under
the Act is appropriate.
References Cited
A complete list of references used in the preparation of the 12-
month finding is available upon request from the Northeast Regional
Office (see ADDRESSES section).
Author
The primary author of this notice is Diane Lynch, Northeast
Regional Office (see ADDRESSES section).
Authority
The authority for this section is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: April 30, 1998.
Jamie Rappaport Clark,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 98-12171 Filed 5-6-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
