[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 134 (Thursday, July 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32283-32284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14950]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XG310
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 and environmental analyses; notice of availability of
Finding of No Significant Impact.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS has evaluated the joint resource management plan (RMP)
submitted to NMFS by the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, Swinomish Indian
Tribal Community, Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, the Skagit River System
Cooperative, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife,
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 RMP specifies harvest of
ESA-listed, Skagit River steelhead in Treaty Indian fisheries and non-
treaty recreational fisheries in the Skagit River terminal area of
Washington State. This document serves to notify the public that NMFS,
by delegated authority from the Secretary of Commerce, had determined
pursuant to Limit 6 of the 4(d) rule for salmon and steelhead that
implementing and enforcing the RMP will not appreciably reduce the
likelihood of survival and recovery of Puget Sound steelhead. In
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NMFS also
announces the availability of its Finding of No Significant Impact for
the Skagit River steelhead fisheries determination.
DATES: The final determination of take prohibition limitation under the
ESA was made on April 12, 2018. The Finding of No Significant Impact
was signed on April 12, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the decision documents or any of the
other associated documents should be directed to NOAA's National Marine
Fisheries Service, West Coast Region, Sustainable Fisheries Division,
510 Desmond Drive, Suite 103, Lacey, WA 98503. The documents are also
available online at www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Dixon at (360) 534-9329 or by
email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ESA-Listed Species Covered in This Notice
Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss): threatened, naturally produced and
artificially propagated Puget Sound.
Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha): threatened, naturally produced and
artificially propagated Puget Sound.
Background
The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community,
Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, and the Skagit River System Cooperative and
the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have jointly submitted a
steelhead fishery RMP 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 plan was submitted in November of 2016, pursuant to limit 6
of the 4(d) Rule for ESA-listed salmon and steelhead. The RMP would
manage the harvest of Skagit River natural-origin steelhead in the
Skagit River and in the terminal marine area of the Skagit River. As
required, NMFS took public comments on its recommended determination
for how the plans address the criteria in Sec. 223.203(b)(5) prior to
making its final determination.
Discussion of the Biological Analysis Underlying the Determination
The goal of the Skagit RMP is to provide steelhead fishing
opportunities for the Skagit River Treaty Tribes and for recreational
fishers, in a manner that is conservative at higher run sizes and
increasingly so at lower run sizes. For a period of five years, the
Skagit RMP will implement annual steelhead fisheries in the Skagit
terminal management area consistent with the impact limits, management
framework, enforcement, and monitoring requirements, as described in
the RMP. The Skagit RMP utilizes an abundance-based, stepped harvest
regime to determine annual harvest rates, based on the annual
forecasted run size. These stepped harvest rates range from a 4 percent
total allowable harvest rate at low run sizes (<4,001 adults) to 25
percent for runs greater than 8,001 adults.
NMFS has analyzed the Skagit RMP's proposed abundance-based,
stepped harvest regime, along with the conservation measures proposed
in the plan. We have concluded that the Skagit RMP would provide
effective protection to the Skagit River steelhead populations based on
parameters defining a viable salmonid population; in terms of overall
abundance and productivity, as well as the diversity and spatial
structure of the individual populations within the Skagit River basin.
The Skagit RMP will provide for the proposed harvest opportunities
while not appreciably slowing the population's achievement of viable
function.
NMFS' determination on the Skagit RMP depends upon implementation
of all of the monitoring, evaluation, reporting tasks or assignments,
and
[[Page 32284]]
enforcement activities included in the RMP. Reporting and inclusion of
new information derived from research, monitoring, and evaluation
activities described in the plan provide assurance that performance
standards will be achieved in future seasons.
Summary of Comments Received in the Response to the Proposed Evaluation
and Pending Determination
NMFS published notice of its Proposed Evaluation and Pending
Determination (PEPD) on the plan for public review and comment on
December 7, 2017 (82 FR 57729). The PEPD was available for public
review and comment for 30 days.
During the public comment period, 121 comments were received, all
by email. These came in the form of: Individual, unique comments;
individuals who submitted form-letter communications, some with added
comments; and letters from fish conservation organizations. NMFS
thoroughly reviewed and considered all of the substantive comments
received from the public and the additional literature and studies
submitted. This review of new information and data informed NMFS'
subsequent analysis, in its biological opinion, but did not lead to any
changes to the Skagit RMP, as submitted, or to NMFS' determination that
the plan adequately addresses the 4(d), Limit 6 criteria. A section
summarizing and responding to the substantive comments received during
the public comment period on the PEPD is included as part of the final
evaluation document, available on the West Coast Region website. Based
on its evaluation and recommended determination and taking into account
the public comments, NMFS issued its final determination on the joint
state-tribal plan.
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 (50 CFR 223.203(b)) 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 plan developed jointly by a
state and a tribe and determined by NMFS to be in accordance with the
salmon and steelhead 4(d) rule (65 FR 42422, July 10, 2000).
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-14950 Filed 7-11-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P