[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4546-4547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-01567]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XD738
Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of final determination and discussion of underlying
biological analysis.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has evaluated the joint resource management plan (RMP),
represented by five Hatchery and Genetic Management Plans (HGMPs),
submitted by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife to NMFS pursuant to the limitation on
take prohibitions for actions conducted under Limit 6 of the 4(d) Rule
for salmon and steelhead promulgated under the Endangered Species Act
(ESA). The plans specify the propagation of five species of salmon and
steelhead in the Elwha River of Washington state. This document serves
to notify the public that NMFS, by delegated authority from the
Secretary of Commerce, has determined pursuant to Limit 6 of the ESA
4(d) Rule for salmon and steelhead that implementing and enforcing the
RMP will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery
of ESA-listed Puget Sound Chinook salmon and Puget Sound steelhead.
DATES: The final determination on the plans was made on January 9,
2015.
ADDRESSES: Written responses to the determination should be sent to
Sustainable Fisheries Division, 1201 NE., Lloyd Boulevard, Suite 1100,
Portland, OR 97232.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Tynan at (360) 753-9579 or email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ESA-Listed Species Covered in This Notice
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): threatened, Puget Sound,
naturally produced and artificially propagated.
Steelhead (O. mykiss): threatened, Puget Sound, naturally produced
and artificially propagated.
Background
The plans describe hatchery operations intended to protect five
species of salmon and steelhead (two of them ESA-listed) during the
removal of two dams on the Elwha River, and subsequent propagation
intended to enhance the rebuilding of those salmonid species. Four of
the plans are submitted by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and one by
the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW); the plans were
developed jointly by the Tribe and the WDFW. NMFS has determined that
implementing and enforcing the RMP will not appreciably reduce the
likelihood of survival and recovery of ESA-listed Puget Sound Chinook
salmon or Puget Sound steelhead.
As required by Sec. 223.203(b)(6) of the ESA 4(d) Rule, NMFS must
determine pursuant to 50 CFR 223.209 and pursuant to the government-to-
government processes therein whether the RMP for Elwha River basin
hatcheries would appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and
recovery of the Puget Sound Chinook Salmon ESU or Puget Sound Steelhead
DPS. NMFS must take comments on how the RMP addresses the criteria in
Sec. 223.203(b)(5) in making that determination.
Discussion of the Biological Analysis Underlying the Determination
The proposed hatchery activities described in the RMP are intended
to conserve salmon and steelhead populations in the Elwha River basin
during operations to remove two dams on the Elwha River, and for a
period of time after the dams have been removed, as the salmonid
habitat is restored. The RMP provides the framework through which the
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the State of Washington can jointly
manage Elwha River salmon and steelhead hatchery, monitoring, and
evaluation activities while meeting requirements specified under the
ESA. The proposed action covers continued operation of the five
hatchery programs over the initial phases of fish restoration in the
Elwha River--the preservation and recolonization phases--with
transitions between phases gauged by achievement of population
viability parameters for listed Chinook salmon and steelhead. Using
native Elwha River fish as broodstock, the programs would continue to
be operated to minimize any impacts on genetic integrity of the natural
salmon and steelhead populations while providing the intended benefits.
The benefits include preserving and assisting in the recolonization of
the indigenous populations of Elwha River salmon and steelhead in the
wake of dam removal when natural productivity conditions will be poor.
The hatchery programs would add marine-derived nutrients to the aquatic
and terrestrial ecosystems above Glines Canyon Dam, which were
inaccessible to salmon and steelhead from the early 1900s until
completion of dam removal in 2014. The programs would increase total
and natural-origin abundance and spatial structure of the Chinook
salmon and steelhead populations as hatchery-origin fish of the same
native lineage return to spawn naturally with fish produced naturally,
and as new habitat becomes available. The hatchery programs would
protect the Elwha River salmon and steelhead populations when turbidity
and bedload movement levels are high and detrimental to natural-origin
fish survival due to dam removal activities. The proposed plans are
interrelated and interdependent through shared population preservation
and recolonization objectives and effects, broodstock collection
locations and actions, fish rearing and release sites, monitoring and
evaluation actions, and funding sources.
The RMP includes provisions for annual reports that will assess
compliance with performance standards established through the RMP.
Reporting and inclusion of new information derived from RMP research,
monitoring, and evaluation activities provides assurance that
performance standards will be achieved in future seasons.
[[Page 4547]]
NMFS' evaluation is available on the Sustainable Fisheries Division Web
site at http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/.
Summary of Comments Received in Response to the Proposed Evaluation and
Pending Determination
NMFS published notice of its proposed evaluation and pending
determination on the RMP for public review and comment on August 5,
2014 (79 FR 45426). The proposed evaluation and pending determination
and an associated draft environmental assessment were available for
public review and comment for 30 days.
NMFS received no comments in response to the notice. However, NMFS
did receive comments from one environmental group pertaining to the
proposed evaluation and pending determination on the RMP in response to
a prior, separate notice published to announce availability for public
review of NMFS's draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment for the
RMP (79 FR 35318, June 20, 2014). NMFS considered these comments in
completing the final Evaluation and Recommended Determination document,
but no substantive changes were required to the RMP. A detailed summary
of the comments and NMFS' responses is also available on the
Sustainable Fisheries Division Web site. Based on its evaluation and
recommended determination and taking into account the public comments,
NMFS issued its final determination on the Elwha River basin salmon and
steelhead hatchery RMP.
Authority
Under section 4 of the ESA, the Secretary of Commerce is required
to adopt such regulations as he deems necessary and advisable for the
conservation of species listed as threatened. The ESA salmon and
steelhead 4(d) Rule (65 FR 42422, July 10, 2000) specifies categories
of activities that contribute to the conservation of listed salmonids
and sets out the criteria for such activities. The Rule further
provides that the prohibitions of paragraph (a) of the Rule do not
apply to actions undertaken in compliance with a RMP developed jointly
by the State of Washington and the Tribe and determined by NMFS to be
in accordance with the salmon and steelhead 4(d) Rule (65 FR 42422,
July 10, 2000).
Dated: January 23, 2015.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-01567 Filed 1-27-15; 8:45 am]
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