[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 69 (Friday, April 9, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18874-18875]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-8113]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 032404A]
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)
for artificial propagation, research, monitoring, and evaluation of
Ozette Lake sockeye salmon provided by the Makah Tribe and, as resource
co-manager, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW),
pursuant to the protective regulations promulgated for Ozette Lake
sockeye salmon under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The RMP
specifies implementation of artificial propagation, research,
monitoring, and evaluation measures that potentially affect listed
Ozette Lake sockeye salmon. This document serves to notify the public
that NMFS, by delegated authority from the Secretary of Commerce, has
determined pursuant to the ESA 4(d) Tribal Rule and the government-to-
government processes therein that implementing and enforcing the RMP
will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery of
the Ozette Lake sockeye salmon Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU).
DATES: The final determination on the take limit was made on July 17,
2003.
ADDRESSES: Salmon Recovery Division, National Marine Fisheries Service,
525 N.E. Oregon St., Suite 510, Portland, OR 97232.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Tynan at phone number: (360) 753-
9579, or e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is relevant to the Ozette Lake
sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) Evolutionarily Significant Unit
(ESU).
Electronic Access: The full texts of NMFS' determination, and the
final Evaluation are available on the Internet at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/
Background
The Makah Tribe and, as co-managers of the fisheries resource with
the Tribe, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) (Co-
managers), provided a joint Resource Management Plan (RMP) for
artificial propagation and associated research, monitoring and
evaluation actions that will affect listed Ozette Lake sockeye salmon.
The joint RMP was prepared and submitted to NOAA Fisheries by the co-
managers as a framework through which the tribal and the state
jurisdiction will jointly manage sockeye salmon artificial propagation,
research, monitoring, and evaluation activities while meeting
requirements specified under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The RMP
guides co-manager activities proposed to increase the number of
naturally spawning sockeye salmon in Ozette Lake tributaries, and to
collect scientific information regarding factors limiting the
productivity of listed Ozette Lake sockeye salmon, including the
potential effects of hatchery sockeye salmon production. On August 1,
2002, NMFS published notice in the Federal Register on its ESA 4(d)
Rule evaluation and recommended determination of how the Ozette Lake
sockeye salmon RMP addressed the criteria in Sec. 223.203 (b)(5) of
the ESA 4 (d) rule of the RMP (67 FR 49905). In response to public
requests, on October 4, 2002, NMFS published an additional notice in
the Federal Register extending the public review and comment period on
the ESA 4(d) Rule evaluation and recommended determination regarding
the RMP (67 FR 62229).
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 Ozette
Lake sockeye salmon would appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival
and recovery of the Ozette Lake sockeye salmon ESU. 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
Implementation of the artificial propagation actions proposed in
the RMP is likely to benefit the abundance, productivity, spatial
structure, and diversity of Ozette Lake sockeye salmon. Measures based
on the best available science are applied in the artificial propagation
portion of the RMP to ensure that the program is implemented in a
manner that is adequately protective of the listed sockeye salmon ESU.
The primary purpose of the proposed hatchery program is the creation of
self-sustaining sockeye salmon populations in Ozette Lake tributaries
where past sockeye salmon spawning and production may have occurred,
and where kokanee (land-locked O. nerka) populations are very small. If
successful, the tributary stocking program will extend the range of
Ozette Lake sockeye salmon within critical habitat for the listed ESU,
potentially increasing natural-origin sockeye salmon abundance, the
diversity of sockeye salmon life history traits and behavior, and
possibly the morphological and genetic characteristics of sockeye
salmon included in the ESU. The hatchery program will rely on
indigenous stock-origin sockeye salmon adults returning to Ozette Lake
tributaries, and extant lake spawning aggregations will not be
collected for use as hatchery broodstock. Annual collection of up to
200 sockeye salmon adults from Umbrella Creek will lead to the
production of approximately 80,000 unfed and fed sockeye fry for
release into Umbrella Creek and approximately 133,000 unfed and fed
sockeye fry into Big River. Applying an estimated fry to returning
adult survival rate of 0.6% from the RMP to the total fry releases at
the two locations, beginning in 2004, 480 adult sockeye may return to
Umbrella Creek and 798 adults may return to Big River each year as a
direct result of tributary hatchery program juvenile sockeye releases.
Additional natural-origin adult fish produced by hatchery program-
origin fish that spawn naturally in the
[[Page 18875]]
tributaries will return concurrently with the direct hatchery-origin
adult sockeye.
The program's 12-year, or three-sockeye salmon generations per
release site, duration is intended to address the concern that repeated
enhancement of the same population segment might result in a decrease
in effective population size of the target population. It also limits
the length of time natural-origin sockeye salmon are exposed to
potentially deleterious selective effects of hatchery conditions to a
few generations, minimizing the likelihood for divergence between
hatchery and natural-origin fish within the supplemented stock.
Limitation of fish rearing in the hatchery to the fry life stage
minimizes the degree of human intervention in the natural life cycle,
which also acts to decrease the risk of inadvertent hatchery selection
effects.
Actions resulting in removal of listed sockeye salmon adults from
the natural environment for artificial propagation are confined to the
tributary broodstock collection program (listed NOR tributary-origin
fish), and a study addressing beach-spawned egg and fry survival. The
actual numbers of adults returning each year to the Ozette Lake sockeye
salmon ESU will be substantially higher than total numbers proposed for
take through these actions. The tributary broodstock program is focused
on hatchery-origin sockeye salmon returns, and will not lead to the
take of adult fish from the core, listed lake spawning population.
Monitoring programs are implemented to ensure that injury and mortality
rates for adult sockeye salmon collected as broodstock are minimized,
and that egg-to-release survival rates for sockeye progeny brought into
the hatchery are maximized. Proposed listed sockeye salmon removals
from the spawning beaches for research purposes will be very low
relative to total annual returns to the lake, and unlikely to impair
population survival and recovery.
Research, monitoring, and evaluation activities included in the RMP
have not been identified as factors for decline of the Ozette Lake
sockeye salmon ESU, and are generally considered an essential part of
salmon recovery efforts. For these programs, the co-managers worked
with NMFS and cooperating agencies to develop projects that will
benefit the conservation and recovery of the listed species. The
projects will provide information that will enhance the ability to make
more effective and responsible decisions to aid listed sockeye salmon.
The resulting data will enhance knowledge about Ozette Lake sockeye
salmon life history, specific biological requirements, genetic make-up,
migration timing, responses to anthropogenic impacts, and survival in
various parts of the ESU's range. This information will also benefit
scientific understanding of sockeye salmon productivity in Ozette Lake,
and of factors limiting sockeye abundance and productivity. The results
of the research are essential for making determinations regarding
listed sockeye salmon recovery needs. The RMP also includes provisions
for annual reports. Annual reports 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. NMFS' evaluation is available on
the Salmon Recovery Division web site (see Electronic Access, under the
heading, SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION).
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 1,
2002 (67 FR 49905), and again on October 4, 2002 (67 FR 62229). During
the 45 days that the documents were available for public comment, two
organizations and one private citizen submitted comments to NMFS.
Several comments were addressed in NMFS' final Evaluation and
Recommended Determination document, but no substantive changes were
required to the RMP. Generally, public comments on both documents
concerned clarification of aspects of the analyses, and did not
represent objections to the proposed action. The major topics raised
involved the relationship between the tributary sockeye salmon
populations that are the target of the propagation programs and the
ESA-listed beach-spawning populations, and the potential future
application of fisheries in the action area. As summarized above, the
RMP considered in the NMFS evaluation document does not propose
hatchery supplementation of the beach-spawning sockeye salmon
population, nor the initiation of any fisheries. Any future proposals
regarding these actions will necessitate reinitiation of evaluation and
determination processes by NMFS to determine compliance with ESA
protective provisions. A detailed summary of the comments and NMFS'
responses is also available on the Salmon Recovery Division website.
Based on its evaluation and recommended determination and taking into
account the public comments, NMFS issued its final determination on the
Ozette Lake sockeye salmon 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 Tribes and determined by NMFS to be
in accordance with the salmon and steelhead 4 (d) rule (65 FR 42422,
July 10, 2000).
Dated: March 30, 2004.
Susan Pultz,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-8113 Filed 4-8-04; 8:45 am]
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