[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 95 (Thursday, May 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28806-28807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-11703]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC682
Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Issuance of four scientific research and enhancement permits.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued Permit 17299 to
the NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), Permit 16543-M1 to
the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR), Permit 17428 to
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Permit 17777
to Natural Resource Scientists Incorporated (NRSI).
ADDRESSES: The approved application for each permit is available on the
Applications and Permits for Protected Species (APPS), https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov Web site by searching the permit number within the
Search Database page. The applications, issued permits and supporting
documents are also available upon written request or by appointment:
Protected Resources Division, NMFS, 650 Capitol Mall, Room 5-100,
Sacramento, CA 95814 (ph: (916) 930-3600, fax: (916) 930-3629).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amanda Cranford at 916-930-3706, or
email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority
The issuance of permits and permit modifications, as required by
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) (ESA), is
based on a finding that such permits/modifications: (1) Are applied for
in good faith; (2) would not operate to the disadvantage of the listed
species which are the subject of the permits; and (3) are consistent
with the purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA.
Authority to take listed species is subject to conditions set forth in
the permits. Permits and modifications are issued in accordance with
and are subject to the ESA and NMFS regulations (50 CFR parts 222-226)
governing listed fish and wildlife permits.
Species Covered in This Notice
This notice is relevant to federally endangered Sacramento River
(SR) winter-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhyncus tshawytscha), threatened
Central Valley (CV) spring-run Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha),
threatened California Central Valley (CCV) steelhead (O. mykiss), and
threatened southern distinct population segment (SDPS) of North
American green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris), henceforth referred to
as ESA-listed salmonids and SDPS green sturgeon.
Permits Issued
Permit 17299
A notice of the receipt of an application for a scientific research
and enhancement permit (17299) was published in the Federal Register on
February 4, 2013 (78 FR 7755). Permit 17299 was issued to the SWFSC on
April 4, 2013, and expires on December 31, 2017.
Permit 17299 is for research to be conducted at various sites and
hatcheries within the Central Valley, CA. The main purpose of the
research conducted by the SWFSC is to carry out comparative studies on
salmonid ecology across all Central Valley habitats (streams, rivers
and Delta) to increase knowledge of California's Chinook salmon and
steelhead life histories. The overall goal of this project is to
provide critical information in support of conservation and management
of California's salmon stocks. Studies authorized under Permit 17299
will follow three directions: (1) Telemetry studies to assess river
habitat use, behavior, and survival, (2) predator impacts on salmon,
and (3) physiological measurements of aerobic scope across stocks.
In situations where the SWFSC are unable to rely on collaborators
to capture fish through rotary screw trapping, collection methods will
include fyke nets, backpack electrofishing, beach seining, tangle
netting, DIDSON observations, tethering and hook and line. Handling
will typically involve sedation of juveniles (MS-222), measurements,
tissue sampling (fin clips and scales from most, stomach lavage
[subset] and tagging [PIT tags, acoustic tags]) followed by release of
live fish. Another group of hatchery produced salmonids will be tested
to measure aerobic scope under a range of temperature and flow
combinations. A small subset of those hatchery produced fish will be
sacrificed to collect otoliths for age and growth measurements, organ
tissue for isotope analysis, biochemical and genomic expression assays,
and tag effects and retention studies.
Permit 17299 authorizes non-lethal take and low levels (not to
exceed two percent) of unintentional lethal take. Permit 17299 also
authorizes intentional, directed lethal take of smolt and adult adipose
fin-clipped, hatchery produced, Chinook salmon for aerobic scope
measurements and otolith microchemistry analysis.
Permit 17428
A notice of the receipt of an application for a scientific research
and enhancement permit (17428) was published in the Federal Register on
October 16, 2012 (77 FR 63295). Permit 17428 was issued to the USFWS on
January 25, 2013 and expires on December 31, 2017.
Permit 17428 is for research to be conducted in the American River,
downstream of the Watt Avenue Bridge, in Sacramento County, CA. Each
year, two to four rotary screw traps (RSTs) will be operated 5 to 7
days each week between January 1 and June 30. As traps are operated,
data will be collected on fish abundance, trap operational status, and
environmental characteristics at the trap site. Trap operations will
focus on the collection of juvenile CCV steelhead and non-listed fall-
run Chinook salmon. Other fish species will be collected on an
incidental basis. If salmon that may be federally listed spring- or
winter-run Chinook are captured, fin clips will be taken so those
samples can be used in genetic studies to determine which runs are
actually present. The lengths of a representative sample of up to 100
individuals of each fish species will be measured each day. Weights
from 25 salmon will be quantified each day. Captured fish will be
released alive immediately downstream of the RSTs.
[[Page 28807]]
The proposed monitoring project does not include activities
designed to intentionally result in the death of listed taxa. If
juvenile salmonids are found dead or incidentally killed during
trapping activities, they will be salvaged for future studies. Permit
17428 authorizes non-lethal and low levels of unintentional lethal take
of smolt and juvenile ESA-listed. Permit 17428 does not authorize any
intentional lethal take of ESA-listed salmonids.
Permit 16543-M1
A notice of the receipt of an application for modification of a
scientific research and enhancement permit (16543-M1) was published in
the Federal Register on February 4, 2013 (78 FR 7755). Permit 16543-M1
was issued to CDWR on March 14, 2013, and expires on December 31, 2014.
Permit 16543-M1 is for research to be conducted in the Sacramento-
San Joaquin Delta, California. The primary objectives to which ESA-
listed salmonids and SDPS green sturgeon may be taken are to provide
information on spatial and environmental patterns of predation;
critical information for guiding future restoration projects on
conditions likely to support or discourage higher predation rates on
ESA-listed and native fishes. Take activities associated with research
on adult ESA-listed salmonids and juvenile, subadult, and adult SDPS
green sturgeon include the following: capture (by trammel net or
gillnet), handling (species identification and enumeration), and
release of fish downstream of the capture location.
Permit 16543-M1 authorizes CDWR non-lethal take of adult ESA-listed
salmonids and juvenile, subadult, and adult SDPS green sturgeon. Permit
16543-M1 does not authorize any unintentional or intentional lethal
take of ESA-listed salmonids and SDPS green sturgeon.
Permit 17777
A notice of the receipt of an application for a scientific research
and enhancement permit (17777) was published in the Federal Register on
February 4, 2013 (78 FR 7755). Permit 17777 was issued to NRSI on April
3, 2013 and expires on December 31, 2014.
Permit 17777 is for research activities conducted at the Sycamore
Mutual Water Corporation diversion site on the middle Sacramento River,
in Colusa County, California. The primary objectives to which ESA-
listed salmonids and SDPS green sturgeon may be taken by NRSI are part
of an ongoing effort to develop criteria to prioritize fish screening
projects on the Sacramento River and experiment with devices to reduce
fish entrainment into unscreened diversions. Sampling will involve the
use of fyke nets positioned at the diversion outfall in the irrigation
canal. The diversion has been screened with two retractable screens.
The UC-Davis Hydraulics Laboratory has designed an alternative device
to reduce fish entrainment for placement over the two riverine intakes
in lieu of the two fish screens. Fish sampling will occur every day
with the behavioral devices in place and removed on alternating days
throughout the irrigation season. The effectiveness of the behavioral
device will be determined by comparing the numbers of fish entrained
each day with the devices in place and removed.
Fish captured on the outfall side of the pumped diversions are not
expected to be alive or salvageable since fish will be mortally injured
by the pumps, lethally stressed in pressurized pipes and warm water, or
otherwise lost to the water distribution systems. Dead or moribund fish
will be identified to species, enumerated, measured, and the carcasses
put back into the canals at the sampling site. To the extent
practicable, any captured live ESA-listed species will be immediately
returned to the river.
Dated: May 13, 2013.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Conservation Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-11703 Filed 5-15-13; 8:45 am]
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