[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 71 (Friday, April 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19824-19825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-7797]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 070727423-8495-02]
RIN 0648-XB75
Endangered and Threatened Species; Notice of Finding on a
Petition to List the Lynn Canal Population of Pacific Herring as a
Threatened or Endangered Species
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of finding; initiation of status review.
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SUMMARY: We, NMFS, announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list
Lynn Canal Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasi) as a threatened or
endangered Species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). After a
formal review of the best available scientific and commercial
information, we find that listing Lynn Canal Pacific herring as
threatened or endangered under the ESA is not warranted because this
population does not constitute a species, subspecies, or distinct
population segment (DPS) under the ESA. However, the Lynn Canal
population is part of a larger DPS of Pacific herring that may warrant
listing under the ESA, and, therefore, we initiate a status review to
evaluate its status.
DATES: The finding announced in this notice is effective immediately.
ADDRESSES: The complete file for this finding is available for public
inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the office of
NMFS Alaska Region, Protected Resources Division, 709 West Ninth
Street, Room 461, Juneau, AK 99801. This file includes the status
review report, information provided by the public, and scientific and
commercial information gathered for the status review.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erika Phillips, NMFS Alaska Region,
(907) 586-7312, Kaja Brix, NMFS Alaska Region, (907) 586-7235 or Marta
Nammack, NMFS Office of Protected Resources, (301) 713-1401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (ESA) requires that when a petition to
revise the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants is
found to present substantial scientific and commercial information, we
make a finding on whether the petitioned action is (a) not warranted,
(b) warranted, or (c) warranted but precluded from immediate proposal
by other pending proposals of higher priority. This finding is to be
made within 1 year of the date the petition was received, and the
finding is to be published promptly in the Federal Register.
On April 2, 2007, we received a petition to designate the Lynn
Canal stock of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) as a threatened or
endangered DPS under the ESA. The petition was submitted by the Juneau
Group of the Sierra Club, Juneau, Alaska. The Petitioner also requested
that we designate critical habitat for Lynn Canal Pacific herring
concurrent with listing under the ESA.
After reviewing the petition, the literature cited in the petition,
and other literature and information available in our files, we found
that the petition met the requirements of the regulations under 50 CFR
424.14(b)(2) and determined that the petition presented substantial
information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.
This finding was published on September 10, 2007 (72 FR 51619). At that
time, we commenced a status review of Lynn Canal herring and solicited
information pertaining to the stock structure and status of Pacific
herring in southeast Alaska, including Lynn Canal.
Status Review
In order to determine whether the Lynn Canal Pacific herring
population constitutes a species that warrants protection under the
ESA, we convened a Biological Review Team of Federal scientists with
expertise in Pacific herring biology, fish genetics and stock
delineations, population ecology of forage fishes, nearshore marine
ecology, fisheries stock assessment, and herring population status
reviews. This expert panel reviewed Pacific herring life history,
genetics data, stock structure research, information on larval
distribution and transport, spawning distributions, tagging studies,
metapopulation research, and other published and unpublished literature
and data on herring stocks throughout the eastern North Pacific.
For the purposes of the ESA, Congress has defined a species as
``any subspecies of fish or wildlife or plants, and any distinct
population segment of any species of vertebrate fish or wildlife which
interbreeds when mature'' (16 U.S.C. 1532(16)). Guidance on what
constitutes a distinct population segment (DPS) is provided by the
joint NMFS-USFWS interagency DPS policy (61 FR 4722; February 7, 1996).
In order to be classified as a DPS, a vertebrate population must meet
two criteria - discreteness and significance. A population, or group of
populations, must first be ``discrete'' from other populations and then
``significant'' to the taxon (species or subspecies) to which it
belongs.
According to the joint DPS policy, a population segment may be
considered discrete if it satisfies either one of the following
conditions: (1) it is markedly separated from other populations of the
same biological taxon as a consequence of physical, physiological,
ecological, or behavioral factors (quantitative measures of genetic or
morphological discontinuity may provide evidence of this separation);
or (2) it is delimited by international governmental boundaries across
which there is a significant difference in exploitation control,
habitat management or conservation status. If a population is
determined to be discrete, the agency must then consider whether it is
significant to the taxon to which it belongs. When evaluating the
significance of a discrete population, we consider the following: (1)
persistence of the discrete population in an unusual or unique
ecological setting for the taxon; (2) evidence that the loss of the
discrete population segment would cause a significant gap in the
taxon's range; (3) evidence that the discrete population segment
represents the only surviving natural occurrence of a taxon that may be
more abundant elsewhere outside its historical geographic range; or (4)
evidence that the discrete population has marked genetic differences
from other populations of the species.
We considered several types of data and information when evaluating
the DPS structure and discreteness of populations of Pacific herring in
Lynn Canal and the eastern North Pacific. This information included:
geographic variability in life-history characteristics, physiology, and
morphology; ecosystem and oceanographic conditions; spawn timing and
locations; tagging and recapture studies that would indicate the extent
of migration and intermingling among stocks; and studies of genetic
differentiation among stocks
[[Page 19825]]
that would suggest some degree of reproductive isolation.
After analyzing the best available scientific and commercial
information, we conclude that Lynn Canal Pacific herring are not
markedly discrete from other Pacific herring populations. The following
evidence suggests that Lynn Canal Pacific herring are not markedly
discrete: (1) there are no known genetic differences between the Lynn
Canal stock and other stocks in Southeast Alaska; (2) spawn timing in
Lynn Canal does not differ significantly from the timing of other
Southeast Alaska stocks, but instead appears to follow a natural
gradient based on climatic conditions; (3) growth rates, length-at-age,
and weight-at-age of Lynn Canal Pacific herring are not significantly
different from stocks elsewhere in Southeast Alaska; (4) tagging data
are too limited to determine the extent of migration or degree of
spawning site fidelity for individual southeast Alaska stocks; and (5)
habitat conditions in Lynn Canal are not markedly different from those
elsewhere in southeast Alaska. Therefore, we find that the best
available scientific and commercial information does not support a
finding that the Lynn Canal population is discrete from other nearby
herring populations in Icy Strait, Seymour Canal, Sitka Sound, or other
parts of southeast Alaska.
Furthermore, we conclude that, even if the evidence indicated that
the Lynn Canal population is discrete, it is not significant with
respect to the taxon. Lynn Canal does not provide a markedly unusual or
unique ecological setting for herring; the population exists in a
relatively small geographic area in close proximity to other herring
populations, such that the loss of the population segment would not
result in a significant gap in the range of a taxon; the population is
not the only surviving natural occurrence of the taxon, but rather is
one small part of an abundant, widely distributed taxon; and no
evidence indicates that the population segment differs markedly from
other populations of Pacific herring in its genetic characteristics.
Because the Lynn Canal population does not meet the primary criteria
required for recognition as a DPS, we conclude that the Pacific herring
population in Lynn Canal does not constitute a DPS as defined under the
ESA.
Description of Southeast Alaska DPS
Through the Status Review process, we have determined that the Lynn
Canal Pacific herring stock is part of a larger, regional Southeast
Alaska DPS. The Southeast Alaska DPS of Pacific herring extends from
Dixon Entrance northward to Cape Fairweather and Icy Point and includes
all Pacific herring stocks in Southeast Alaska.
Discreteness
The delineation of the southern boundary is based on genetic
differences between herring in Southeast Alaska and those in British
Columbia, as well as differences in recruitment and average weight-at-
age, parasitism, spawn timing and locations, and the results of tagging
studies conducted in British Columbia. The northern boundary is defined
by physical and ecological features that create migratory barriers, as
well as large stretches of exposed ocean beaches that are devoid of
spawning and rearing habitats.
Significance
Given the large scope of this geographic area and the large number
of stocks found throughout Southeast Alaska, we have determined that
the Southeast Alaska Pacific herring population is significant to the
taxon as a whole. Specifically, the Southeast population persists in a
unique ecological setting, and the extirpation of this population of
Pacific herring would result in a significant gap in the range of the
taxon.
DPS Conclusion
Because the Southeast Alaska population of Pacific herring meets
the discreteness and significance criteria of the joint USFWS-NMFS DPS
policy, this regional population constitutes a DPS under the ESA.
Next Steps
In order to determine whether this Southeast Alaska DPS of Pacific
herring warrants protection under the ESA, we will proceed with a
status review of the Southeast Alaska DPS described above. Because we
have formally announced the initiation of a status review for the
Southeast Alaska DPS of Pacific herring, we consider this DPS to be a
candidate species under the ESA. The status review for this candidate
species will include an analysis of extinction risk, an assessment of
the factors listed under section 4(a)(1) of the ESA, and an evaluation
of conservation efforts for the DPS as a whole. The results of the
expanded status review and our determination on the status of the
Southeast Alaska DPS of Pacific herring will be published in a
subsequent Federal Register notice.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: April 7, 2008.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-7797 Filed 4-10-08; 8:45 am]
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