Comment on FR Doc # 2011-05424

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is pleased to provide you with additional information on longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) per the March 10, 2011 federal notice (Federal Register, Volume 76, Number 46, pages 13121-13122). The longfin smelt is locally common in a few estuarine areas of Washington State. Anadromous spawning populations may occur throughout western Washington, but the species is generally poorly known and little studied. Emmett et al. (1991) inferred longfin smelt to be common-to-abundant in Puget Sound, Skagit Bay, Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay in Washington, and highly abundant in the Columbia River. Longfin smelt, however, were not reported in Hood Canal, one of the major subbasins of Puget Sound. The land-locked population in Lake Washington is robust. Please refer to the attached file containing the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife response to your Request for information.