Permits: Endangered and threatened species,

[Federal Register: October 8, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 195)]

[Notices]

[Page 54111-54112]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr08oc98-38]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 092898B]

Endangered Species; Permits

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Receipt of applications for scientific research permits (1108, 1109, 1110, 1117, 1121, 1154, 1163, 1164, 1165, 1170, 1172), enhancement permits (1077, 1078, 1084, 1171), scientific research and enhancement permit (1090); receipt of requests to modify scientific research permits (1041, 1045, 1046, 1055, 1059, 1066, 1075, 1080, 1097, 1103, 1105).

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the following entities have applied for permits authorizing the take of endangered or threatened species:

For scientific research: the Monterey Bay Water Management District (MBWMD) in Monterey, CA (1108), California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) in San Diego, CA (1109), National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Region (SWR), Long Beach, CA (1110), Carmel River Steelhead Association (CRSA), Carmel, CA (1117), Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD), San Jose, CA (1121), National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), Seattle, WA (1154), East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD), Lodi, CA (1163), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Ventura, CA (1164), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Goleta, CA (1165), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Sacramento, CA (1170), and Environmental Science Associates (EnSci), San Francisco, CA.

For enhancement: the Salmon Restoration Association (SRA), Fort Bragg, CA (1077, 1084), the Rowdy Creek Hatchery (RCH), Crescent City, CA (1078), and Annette Thompson, Oakland, CA (1171).

For research/enhancement: the Mattole Watershed Salmon Support Group (MSG) in Petrolia, CA (1090).

Notice is also given that the following entities have applied for modifications to their existing permits: California Department of Transportation, District 4 (CalTrans), Oakland, CA (1041), Michael Fawcett, Bodega Bay, CA (1045), U.S. National Park Service (NPS), San Francisco, CA (1046), Amy Harris, Sacramento, CA (1055), Carl Page, Cotati, CA (1059), D.W. Alley and Associates (DWAA), Brookdale, CA (1066), Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA), Miranda, CA (1075), Jerry Smith, San Jose, CA (1080), Scott Cressey, El Cerrito, CA (1097), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDFFP), Santa Rosa, CA (1103), and Hagar Environmental Science (HES), Richmond, CA.

DATES: Written comments or requests for a public hearing on any of these applications must be received on or before November 9, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The applications and related documents are available for review in the following office, by appointment:

Protected Species Division, NMFS, 777 Sonoma Avenue, Room 325, Santa Rosa, CA 95404-6528 (707-575-6066).

All documents may also be reviewed by appointment in the Office of Protected Resources, F/PR3, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 (301-713-1401);

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Hablett, Protected Species Division, NMFS, Santa Rosa Office (707-575-6066).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority

The permit applicants identified in the preceding SUMMARY section of this Notice request permits and/or modifications to permits under the authority of section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) and the NMFS regulations governing ESA-listed fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 217-227).

Those individuals requesting a hearing on any of these applications should set out the specific reasons why a hearing would be appropriate (see ADDRESSES). The holding of such a hearing is at the discretion of the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA. All statements and opinions contained in the permit application summaries are those of the applicants and do not necessarily reflect the views of NMFS.

Species and Activities Covered Under This Notice

This notice covers the following species: central California coast (CCC) and southern Oregon/northern California coast (SONCC) coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), southern California coast (SoCC), south-central California coast (SCCC), central California coast (CCC), and Central Valley (CV) steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and Sacramento River winter-run (SaRWR) chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).

The scientific studies listed below consist of adult and/or juvenile distribution/abundance surveys, genetic studies, and spawner surveys. ESA-listed fish are proposed to be captured, anesthetized, handled (identified, measured, and sampled for tissues), allowed to recover from the anesthetic, and released. ESA-listed fish carcasses are proposed to be collected, measured and sampled for tissues, and returned to the water. ESA-listed adult and/or juvenile fish indirect mortalities associated with the research are also requested. Enhancement activities include obtaining adult coho salmon broodstock for propagation purposes, and releasing artificially-reared juveniles coho salmon into area watersheds. All initial permit requests are for a five-year duration.

Permits Requested

MBWMD (1108) requests takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population, migration, and spawning studies, and the rescue of stranded fish in the Carmel River within the SCCC steelhead Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU).

CDFG (1109) requests takes of adult and juvenile, endangered, steelhead associated with presence/absence studies in the San Luis Rey River, the Santa Margarita River and San Mateo Creek within the SoCC steelhead ESU.

SWR (1110) requests takes of adult and juvenile, endangered, steelhead associated with presence/absence studies throughout the SoCC steelhead ESU.

CRSA (1117) requests takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with the rescue of stranded fish in the Carmel River within the SCCC steelhead ESU.

SCVWD (1121) requests takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population, migration, and spawning studies, and the rescue of stranded fish in the Santa Clara County jurisdictional waters within the CCC and SCCC steelhead ESUs.

NWFSC (1154) requests takes of juvenile, threatened, coho salmon, adult and juvenile, threatened steelhead, and adult and juvenile, endangered, chinook salmon associated with the National

[[Page 54112]]

Wild Fish Health Survey in two estuarine studies on the Klamath River and San Francisco Bay, within the CCC and SONCC coho salmon, CCC and CV steelhead, and SaRWR chinook salmon ESUs. The study consists of the capture and intentional killing of targeted ESA-listed juveniles for a tissues analysis of bacterial and parasitic pathogens in the species. Direct mortalities of 200 SONCC juvenile coho salmon and 200 SaRWR juvenile chinook salmon annually are requested.

EBMUD (1163) requests takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population, migration, and spawning studies in the Mokelumne River within the CV steelhead ESU.

FWS (1164) requests takes of adult and juvenile, endangered, steelhead associated with fish population, migration, and spawning studies throughout the SoCC steelhead ESU.

USFS (1165) requests takes of adult and juvenile, endangered and threatened, steelhead associated with fish population, migration, and spawning studies in USFS jurisdictional waters within the SoCC and SCCC steelhead ESUs.

USGS (1170) requests takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead, and adult and juvenile, endangered chinook salmon associated with fish population, migration, and spawning studies in the Sacramento River drainage within the CV steelhead and SaRWR chinook salmon ESUs.

EnSci (1172) requests takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population studies in the Squaw Creek watershed within the CCC steelhead ESU.

SRA (1077,1084) requests takes of adult and juvenile coho salmon for enhancement purposes at their Ten-mile River and Hollow Tree Creek hatcheries within the CCC coho salmon ESU.

RCH (1078) requests takes of adult and juvenile coho salmon for enhancement purposes at their Rowdy Creek hatchery within the California portion of the SONCC coho salmon ESU.

Annette Thompson (1171) requests minor takes of threatened steelhead eggs (n=1000) from areas that are unsuitable for successful reproduction, hatch/rear the fish in public school classrooms, and release the juveniles to their parent streams within the CCC steelhead ESU.

MSG (1090) requests takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, coho salmon associated with fish population, migration, and spawning studies, and for enhancement purposes in the Mattole River drainages within the CCC coho salmon ESU.

Modifications Requested

CalTrans requests modification 1 to permit 1041 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population and habitat studies throughout the CCC and SCCC steelhead ESUs for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 2002.

Michael Fawcett requests modification 1 to permit 1045 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population and habitat studies throughout the CCC steelhead ESU for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 2002.

NPS requests modification 1 to permit 1046 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population and habitat studies in jurisdictional waters within the CCC steelhead ESU for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 2002.

Amy Harris requests modification 1 to permit 1055 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population and habitat studies in the Sacramento- San Joaquin watershed within the CV steelhead ESU for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 1999.

Carl Page requests modification 1 to permit 1059 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population and habitat studies throughout the CCC and SCCC steelhead ESUs for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 2003.

DWAA requests modification 1 to permit 1066 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, endangered and threatened, steelhead associated with fish population and habitat studies throughout the SoCC, CCC and SCCC steelhead ESUs for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 2002.

PCFFA requests modification 1 to permit 1075 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, threatened coho salmon for enhancement purposes in Redwood Creek within the California portion of the SONCC coho salmon ESU for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 2003.

Jerry Smith requests modification 1 to permit 1080 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population and habitat studies throughout the CCC and SCCC steelhead ESUs for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 2002.

Scott Cressey requests modification 1 to permit 1097 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population and habitat studies throughout the CCC and SCCC steelhead ESUs for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 2003.

CDFFP requests modification 2 to permit 1103 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population and habitat studies throughout the CCC steelhead ESU for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 2002.

HES requests modification 1 to permit 1105 for authorization to include takes of adult and juvenile, threatened, steelhead associated with fish population and habitat studies throughout the CCC and SCCC steelhead ESUs for the duration of the permit which expires on June 30, 2003.

Dated: October 1, 1998. Kevin Collins, Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98-27056Filed10-7-98; 8:45 am]

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