[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 4, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28182-28183]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-13844]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 052896F]
Endangered Species; Permits
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Issuance of modification 7 to permit 795 (P503A) and
modification 2 to permit 844 (P503I).
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued a modification to
a permit that authorizes takes of an Endangered Species Act-listed
species for the purpose of scientific research/enhancement and a
modification to a permit that authorizes takes of Endangered Species
Act-listed species incidental to sport-fishing activities, subject to
certain conditions set forth therein, to the Idaho Department of Fish
and Game at Boise, Idaho (IDFG).
ADDRESSES: The applications and related documents are available for
review in the following offices, by appointment:
Office of Protected Resources, F/PR8, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway,
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 (301-713-1401); and
Environmental and Technical Services Division, 525 NE Oregon
Street, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232-4169 (503-230-5400).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The modifications to permits were issued
under the authority of section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) and the NMFS regulations governing ESA-
listed fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 217-222).
Notice was published on March 12, 1996 (61 FR 9979) that an
application had been filed by IDFG (P503A) for modification 7 to
scientific research/enhancement permit 795. Modification 7 to permit
795 was issued to IDFG on April 30, 1996. Permit 795 authorizes IDFG
takes of endangered Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)
associated with a captive broodstock program. The captive broodstock
program is helping to perpetuate the species and will provide Snake
River sockeye salmon for future recovery actions. For Modification 7,
IDFG is authorized to release juvenile sockeye progeny of ESA-listed
adults into net pens in Redfish Lake, ID from June-October annually and
to release those fish from the net pens directly into the lake in
October each year. IDFG is also authorized an increase in the annual
number of ESA-listed juvenile fish to be captured, handled, tagged with
passive integrated transponders, and released during the annual
juvenile outmigration to the ocean. Modification 7 is valid for the
duration of the permit. Permit 795 expires on July 31, 1997.
NMFS also amended permit 795 to authorize the transfers and
releases of ESA-listed sockeye salmon captive-brood progeny from the
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's (ODFW) Bonneville Hatchery. In
1995, NMFS issued an amendment to Permit 795 to allow the Coastal Zone
and Estuarine Studies Division of the Northwest Fisheries Science
Center, NMFS (CZESD) to transfer ESA-listed juvenile fish, captive-
brood sockeye
[[Page 28183]]
salmon progeny suspected of being exposed to bacterial kidney disease
(BKD), from the University of Washington's Big Beef Creek Hatchery in
Seattle to ODFW's rearing facility at Bonneville Hatchery for final
rearing (FR 60 17316, April 5, 1995). Both CZESD and ODFW are
authorized to act as agents of IDFG under permit 795. Due to the fact
that ODFW needed the space at Bonneville Hatchery by May 1 of this
year, permit 795 was amended to allow ODFW and CZESD to transfer the
ESA-listed juvenile fish at the hatchery to IDFG for release at Redfish
Lake Creek if the progeny did not exhibit clinical signs of BKD. Any
ESA-listed juvenile progeny that were determined to be at risk for BKD
were authorized to be released in the mainstem Columbia River at
Bonneville Hatchery. These fish transfers and releases are valid in
1996 only.
Notice was published on March 12, 1996 (61 FR 9979) that an
application had been filed by IDFG (P503I) for modification 2 to
incidental take permit 844. Modification 2 to permit 844 was issued to
IDFG on May 24, 1996. Permit 844 authorizes IDFG an incidental take of
adult and juvenile, threatened, Snake River spring/summer chinook
salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and adult, threatened, Snake River
fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) associated with the
State of Idaho's sport-fishing activities. For modification 2, IDFG is
authorized an incidental take of unmarked residual, ESA-listed, Snake
River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) associated with a kokanee
fishery in Redfish Lake from May 25 to August 7, 1996. The purpose of
the fishery is to reduce the kokanee population in Redfish Lake since
kokanee are a direct competitor with captive-brood sockeye salmon for
habitat and food. IDFG have amended the Conservation Plan for permit
844 by outlining a monitoring strategy of the potential take of ESA-
listed species resulting from the Redfish Lake kokanee fishery. The
amended Conservation Plan includes the scheme that anglers will be
directed to avoid harvesting fish marked with external hatchery
indications. Modification 2 is valid in 1996 only. Permit 844 expires
on April 30, 1998.
Issuance of the permit modifications, as required by the ESA, was
based on a finding that such actions: (1) Were requested in good faith,
(2) will not operate to the disadvantage of the ESA-listed species that
are the subject of the permits, and (3) are consistent with the
purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA and the NMFS
regulations governing ESA-listed species permits.
Dated: May 28, 1996.
Margaret Lorenz,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-13844 Filed 6-3-96; 8:45 am]
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