[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 36 (Monday, February 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10102-10103]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03806]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XD142
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 17913 to
Stillwater Sciences, Permit 17551 and Permit 18181 to the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and Permit 1415 to the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
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:
NMFS West Coast Region, 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 the 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).
Permits Issued
Permit 17913
A notice of the receipt of an application for a scientific research
and enhancement permit (17913) was published in the Federal Register on
March 28, 2013 (78 FR 18963). Permit 17913 was issued to Stillwater
Sciences on September 6, 2013 and expires on December 31, 2018.
Permit 17913 is for two studies to be carried out in the Tuolumne
River between river mile (RM) 52.5 and RM 0, and in the San Joaquin
River between RM 79 (Gardner Cove) and RM 90 (Laird Park). The Tuolumne
River fisheries monitoring project will evaluate and
[[Page 10103]]
measure ESA-listed salmonid and non-listed fish species distribution,
population abundance, habitat utilization, and habitat quality in the
lower Tuolumne River in Stanislaus County, California. This project
will monitor the effects of water diversion facilities maintained by
the Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts on ESA-listed salmonids
and non-listed fish species and the effects of past and ongoing habitat
restoration actions to provide information and guide future habitat
restoration and management actions within the Tuolumne River watershed.
This study includes observational snorkel surveys as well as direct
collection and handling of juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon and CCV
steelhead using beach seine methods. Any captured juvenile CCV
steelhead will be handled (sedated and measured for length and weight),
placed in an aerated bucket to recover, and released downstream of the
capture site.
The Tuolumne River O. mykiss Temperature Adaptation Assessment
project will examine temperature tolerances of juvenile salmonid life
stages that inhabit the lower Tuolumne River. Fish collected for this
project may potentially include ESA-listed CCV steelhead. Up to 50
juvenile O. mykiss will be collected from the Tuolumne River during
summer months (June-September) of each year using beach seine methods
between La Grange powerhouse (RM 52.2) and Roberts Ferry Bridge (RM
39.5). Individual test fish will be placed in Brett swim tubes and
tested for physiological performance, measuring both a routine, or
resting (minimum) respiratory rate and a swimming (maximum) respiratory
rate at a single test temperature. Test fish would be allowed to fully
recover prior to release in the lower Tuolumne River.
Permit 17551
A notice of the receipt of an application for a scientific research
and enhancement permit (17551) was published in the Federal Register on
March 28, 2013 (78 FR 18963). Permit 17551 was issued to the CDFW's
Region II on September 9, 2013 and expires on December 31, 2018.
The overall goal of this project is to increase knowledge with
regards to the behavior of young of the year and yearling SDPS green
sturgeon from the Sacramento River and their presumed nursery grounds
of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and subsequently the ocean staging
habitat of San Francisco Bay. Information on timing, survival, and
transition rates through the bay and Delta region are necessary for
understanding potential risks to juvenile green sturgeon.
The study proposed for Permit 17551 will be a collaborative effort
between the University of California Davis Biotelemetry Laboratory and
CDFW. Objectives are to: (1) Develop capture methods for monitoring of
juvenile green and white sturgeon in the lower Sacramento River and
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; (2) Describe spatial and temporal
movements during emigration from the lower Sacramento River to the
tidally influenced reaches of the upper Delta; (3) Assess the seasonal
migration and survival through engineered flood plains (Yolo Bypass);
and (4) Describe spatial and temporal use of the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta and behavior and emigration timing to San Francisco Bay. CDFW is
proposing to capture (tangle nets, modified fyke nets), handle (measure
lengths and weights, surgical implantation of acoustic tags), and
release juvenile SDPS green sturgeon once adequately recovered.
Permit 18181
A notice of the receipt of an application for a scientific research
and enhancement permit (18181) was published in the Federal Register on
September 25, 2013 (78 FR 59005). Permit 18181 was issued to the CDFW's
Region II on January 14, 2014 and expires on December 31, 2018.
The primary purpose of Permit 18181 will be to assess entrainment
following inundation at weir structures in the Central Valley during
high flow events and within the Colusa Basin Drainage Canal (CBDC). If
entrainment occurs, fish will be rescued and relocated to the lower
Sacramento River near Tisdale Weir, in Sutter County, California. The
objectives of the proposed rescue and monitoring are to: (1) Capture,
tag and relocate SR winter-run Chinook salmon and other species of
management concern in the lower reaches of the CBDC or at Wallace Weir
within the Yolo Bypass to estimate the number of fish entering the
CBDC; (2) Construct and place modified fyke traps at key locations
within the interior of the CBDC system to capture, tag and relocate
stranded fish if the weirs lower in the system are not successful at
stopping fish; (3) Assess the level of entrainment behind Fremont and
Tisdale weirs and evaluate the survival and behavior of entrained
adults that are rescued and relocated following increased flows and
flooding; and (4) Identify conditions resulting in high levels of
entrainment specific to each location.
The take associated with rescue and research activities involving
ESA-listed salmonids and SDPS green sturgeon will include: capture
(resistance board weir, fyke traps, block nets, hoop nets, beach
seines), handling (measurements, weights, fin clips for genetic
analysis, application of Floy tags, surgical implantation of acoustic
tags), transport (if applicable) and the release of ESA-listed
salmonids and SDPS green sturgeon back into the Sacramento River.
Permit 1415
A notice of the receipt of an application for modification of a
scientific research and enhancement permit (1415) was published in the
Federal Register on September 25, 2013 (78 FR 59005). Permit 1415 was
issued to the USFWS, Red Bluff Fish and Wildlife Office on February 6,
2014 and expires on December 31, 2018.
The overall purpose of the projects is to provide monitoring data
for various evaluations, including restoration actions, stream flow
assessments, management actions, and life-history investigations.
Species under investigation include SR winter-run Chinook salmon, CV
spring-run Chinook salmon, CCV steelhead, and SDPS green sturgeon.
Streams targeted for research and monitoring include Battle Creek,
Clear Creek, and the mainstem of the upper Sacramento River (i.e.,
upper river and surrounding watersheds).
Take resulting from the proposed research and monitoring activities
will involve observations (snorkel surveys, redd counts and escapement/
stream surveys) or capture (by trawl, seine, fyke-net trap, benthic D-
net, substrate samplers, hook and line, backpack electrofishing, weir
trap, trammel or gill net, rotary screw trap, egg mats, or by dip net),
handling (sedation, fin clipping, tissue sampling, coded-wire tag
extraction, otolith extraction), marking (Bismark brown Y stain),
tagging (acoustic, passive integrated transponder [PIT]), and release
of fish in association with eight separate projects.
Dated: February 19, 2014.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-03806 Filed 2-21-14; 8:45 am]
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