[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 175 (Monday, September 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55458-55459]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22209]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 120807314-2314-01]
RIN 0648-XC155
Endangered and Threatened Species; 90-Day Finding on Petition To
Delist the Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Evolutionarily
Significant Unit of Coho Salmon Under the Endangered Species Act
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding.
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SUMMARY: We, NMFS, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to delist
the Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) Evolutionarily
Significant Unit (ESU) of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petition does not
present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating
that the petitioned action may be warranted.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the petition are available at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/or upon request from the Assistant Regional
Administrator, Protected Resources Division, NMFS, Southwest Regional
Office, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Wingert, NMFS, Southwest Region
Office, (562) 980-4021; or Dwayne Meadows, Office of Protected
Resources (301) 427-8403.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 4 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1533) contains provisions allowing
interested persons to petition the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to
add a species to or remove a species from the List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife, and to designate critical habitat for any
endangered or threatened species. The Secretary has delegated the
authority for these actions to the NOAA Assistant Administrator for
Fisheries.
On July 3, 2012, we received a petition from the Siskiyou County
Water Users Association and Dr. Richard Gierak (the petitioners)
requesting that we delist the SONCC ESU of coho salmon under the ESA.
The petitioners previously submitted four petitions requesting that we
delist coho salmon. We analyzed those petitions and found that they did
not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating
the petitioned action may be warranted. One negative 90-day finding
notice for three of these petitions was published on October 7, 2011
(76 FR 62375) and a second negative 90-day finding for the fourth
petition was published on January 11, 2012 (77 FR 1668). The new
petition largely reiterates the petitioners' previous arguments,
including that the species is not native to northern California
watersheds, including the Klamath River, the species abundance has
increased since the early 1960s and is in good condition overall, and
that non-man-made factors (e.g., ocean conditions, floods, fires, and
drought) rather than man-made factors are responsible for the decline
in coho salmon abundance. These arguments
[[Page 55459]]
were addressed in our responses to the previous petitions and therefore
not repeated here.
In the current petition, the petitioners have specified their
request to delist the SONCC coho salmon ESU, reiterated many of their
previous arguments, and presented some additional information regarding
coho and Chinook salmon fishing seasons in Oregon streams, Yukon River
salmon run predictions, changes in salmon landings over the past 1-2
decades, and increases in Pacific Ocean water temperature. We carefully
analyzed this additional information and found that it is: Not relevant
to the petitioned action (e.g., the Oregon and Yukon fisheries are
different ESUs from the petitioned species); not supported by
literature citations or other references in the petition (e.g.,
historical landings and ocean temperature information), and therefore
constitutes unsupported assertions; or it simply does not support the
petitioned action (e.g., information about coho and Chinook salmon
fishing seasons in Oregon streams that are not within the range of this
ESU). As a result of these deficiencies, the petition does not present
any additional substantial scientific or commercial information that
indicates the petitioned action may be warranted. Moreover, none of
this additional information modifies the underlying scientific basis
for our original determination to list the SONCC coho salmon ESU or
causes us to re-evaluate our analysis of delisting petitions that were
previously submitted by the petitioners.
ESA Statutory and Regulatory Provisions and Evaluation Framework
Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(A)) requires
that we make a finding as to whether a petition to list, delist, or
reclassify a species presents substantial scientific or commercial
information indicating the petitioned action may be warranted. ESA
implementing regulations define ``substantial information'' as the
``amount of information that would lead a reasonable person to believe
that the measure proposed in the petition may be warranted'' (50 CFR
424.14(b)(1)). In determining whether a petition presents substantial
scientific or commercial information to list or delist a species, we
take into account information submitted with, and referenced in, the
petition and all other information readily available in our files. To
the maximum extent practicable, this finding is to be made within 90
days of the receipt of the petition, followed by prompt publication in
the Federal Register (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(A)). ESA implementing
regulations state that a species may be delisted only if the best
scientific and commercial data available substantiate that it is
neither endangered nor threatened for one or more of the following
reasons: The species is extinct; the species is recovered; or
subsequent investigations show the best scientific or commercial data
available when the species was listed, or the interpretation of such
data, were in error (50 CFR 424.11(d)).
Petition Finding
As discussed above, this subject petition does not present any
additional substantial scientific or commercial information related to
whether the SONCC ESU of coho salmon is recovered, extinct, or that the
best scientific or commercial data available when the species was
listed, or the interpretation of such data, were in error. Therefore,
we find that the petition does not present substantial scientific or
commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be
warranted.
References Cited
A complete list of the references used in this finding is available
upon request (see ADDRESSES).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
Dated: September 4, 2012.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, performing the functions and
duties of the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-22209 Filed 9-7-12; 8:45 am]
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