Endangered Species; Permits

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 022498C]

Endangered Species; Permits

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Receipt of an application for modification 5 to scientific

research permit 822.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Fish Passage Center at

Portland, OR (FPC) has applied in due form for a modification to a

permit that would authorize takes of endangered and threatened

anadromous steelhead for the purpose of scientific research.

DATES: Written comments or requests for a public hearing on this

application must be received on or before April 6, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The application and related documents are available for

review in the following offices, by appointment:

Office of Protected Resources, F/PR3, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway,

Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 (301-713-1401); and

Protected Resources Division (PRD), F/NWO3, 525 NE Oregon Street,

Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232-4169 (503-230-5400).

Written comments or requests for a public hearing should be

submitted to the Chief, PRD in Portland, OR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Koch, PRD (503-230-5424).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FPC requests a modification to a permit

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).

FPC requests modification 5 to permit 822. Permit 822 authorizes

FPC annual direct takes of juvenile, endangered, Snake River sockeye

salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka); juvenile, threatened, naturally produced

and artificially propagated, Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon

[[Page 11222]]

(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha); and juvenile, threatened, Snake River fall

chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) associated with the Smolt

Monitoring Program (SMP), conducted at hydropower dams on the Snake and

Columbia Rivers in the Pacific Northwest and at a number of upriver

locations in the state of ID. Permit 822 also authorizes FPC annual

incidental takes of ESA-listed adult Snake River salmon associated with

fallbacks through the juvenile bypass systems at Bonneville and John

Day Dams on the Columbia River. The purpose of the SMP is to generate

information on the migrational characteristics of anadromous fish

stocks in the Columbia River Basin. The information is used to

implement flow and spill measures designed to improve fish passage

conditions at the dams and reservoirs on the Snake and Columbia Rivers.

For modification 5 to the permit, FPC requests: (1) annual direct

takes of juvenile, endangered, naturally produced and artificially

propagated, upper Columbia River steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and

juvenile, threatened, Snake River steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

associated with the SMP; (2) an annual direct take of juvenile lower

Columbia River steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a species currently

proposed as threatened, at Bonneville Dam; and (3) annual incidental

takes of ESA-listed adult steelhead associated with fallbacks through

the juvenile fish bypass systems at Bonneville and John Day Dams. ESA-

listed steelhead indirect and incidental mortalities associated with

the SMP are requested. Modification 5 to permit 822 is requested to be

valid for the duration of the permit. Permit 822 expires on December

31, 1998.

To date, protective regulations for threatened Snake River

steelhead under section 4(d) of the ESA have not been promulgated by

NMFS. This notice of receipt of an application requesting a take of

this species is issued as a precaution in the event that NMFS issues

protective regulations that prohibit takes of Snake River steelhead.

The initiation of a 30-day public comment period on the application,

including its proposed take of Snake River steelhead, does not

presuppose the contents of the eventual protective regulations. To

date, a listing determination for lower Columbia River steelhead under

the ESA has not been promulgated by NMFS. This notice of receipt of

applications requesting takes of this species is issued as a precaution

in the event that NMFS issues a listing determination. The initiation

of a 30-day public comment period on the applications, including their

proposed takes of lower Columbia River steelhead, does not presuppose a

listing determination.

Aspects of this proposed permit modification, and a request

received from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to modify permit 895 to

include takes of ESA-listed steelhead, will be the subject of scheduled

hearings, as previously noticed (63-FR-9204, February 24, 1998). Those

individuals requesting a hearing on the request for modification 5 to

permit 822 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 above application summary are

those of the applicant and do not necessarily reflect the views of

NMFS.

Dated: March 2, 1998.

Marta F. Nammack,

Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98-5836 Filed 3-5-98; 8:45 am]

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