9490 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 29 / Tuesday, February 16, 2021 / Notices 

activities that involve live black 

abalone. 

This notice is provided pursuant to 

section 10(c) of the ESA. NMFS will 

evaluate the application, associated 

documents, and comments submitted to 

determine whether the application 

meets the requirements of section 10(a) 

of the ESA and Federal regulations. The 

final permit decision will not be made 

until after the end of the 30-day 

comment period. NMFS will publish 

notice of its final action in the Federal 

Register. 

Authority 

Scientific research permits are issued 

in accordance with section 10(a)(1)(A) 

of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and 

regulations governing listed fish and 

wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 222–226). 

NMFS issues permits based on findings 

that such permits: (1) Are applied for in 

good faith; (2) if granted and exercised, 

would not operate to the disadvantage 

of the listed species that are the subject 

of the permit; and (3) are consistent 

with the purposes and policy of section 

2 of the ESA. The authority to take 

listed species is subject to conditions set 

forth in the permits. 

Anyone requesting a hearing on the 

application listed in this notice should 

set out the specific reasons why a 

hearing on the application would be 

appropriate (see ADDRESSES). Such 

hearings are held at the discretion of the 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

NMFS. 

Dated: February 9, 2021. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02987 Filed 2–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XA873] 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

Take of Anadromous Fish 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice, receipt of 17 application 

permit renewals, 2 permit 

modifications, and 6 new permits. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

NMFS has received 25 scientific 

research permit application requests 

relating to Pacific salmon, steelhead, 

green sturgeon, rockfish, and eulachon. 

The proposed research is intended to 

increase knowledge of species listed 

under the Endangered Species Act 

(ESA) and to help guide management 

and conservation efforts. The 

applications may be viewed online at: 

https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov/preview/ 

preview_open_for_comment.cfm. 

DATES: Comments or requests for a 

public hearing on the applications must 

be received at the appropriate address or 

fax number (see ADDRESSES) no later 

than 5 p.m. Pacific standard time on 

March 18, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Because all West Coast 

NMFS offices are currently closed, all 

written comments on the applications 

should be sent to by email to nmfs.wcrapps@noaa.gov (please include the 

permit number in the subject line of the 

email). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rob 

Clapp, Portland, OR (ph.: 503–231– 

2314, fax: 503–230–5441, email: 

Robert.Clapp@noaa.gov). Permit 

application instructions are available 

from the address above, or online at 

https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Species Covered in This Notice 

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 

tshawytscha): Threatened Lower 

Columbia River (LCR); threatened Puget 

Sound (PS); threatened Snake River 

(SnkR) spring/summer-run; threatened 

SnkR fall-run; endangered Upper 

Columbia River (UCR) spring-run; 

threatened Upper Willamette River 

(UWR), threatened Central Valley 

spring-run (CVS); endangered 

Sacramento River (SacR) winter-run; 

threatened California Coastal (CC). 

Steelhead (O. mykiss): Threatened 

LCR; threatened Middle Columbia River 

(MCR); threatened PS; threatened SnkR; 

threatened UCR; threatened UWR; 

threatened Northern California (NC); 

threatened Central California Coast 

(CCC); threatened California Central 

Valley (CCV); threatened South-Central 

California Coast (S–CCC); endangered 

Southern California (SC). 

Chum salmon (O. keta): Threatened 

Hood Canal Summer-run (HCS), 

threatened Columbia River (CR). 

Coho salmon (O. kisutch): Threatened 

LCR; threatened Oregon Coast (OC) 

coho; threatened Southern Oregon/ 

Northern California Coast (SONCC), 

endangered Central California Coast 

(CCC). 

Sockeye salmon (O. nerka): 

Endangered SnkR. 

Eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus): 

Threatened southern (S). 

Green sturgeon (Acipenser 

medirostris): Threatened southern 

Distinct Population Segment (SDPS). 

Rockfish (Sebastes spp.): Endangered 

Puget Sound/Georgia Basin (PS/GB) 

bocaccio (Sebastes paucispinis); 

threatened PS/GB yelloweye rockfish (S. 

ruberrimus). 

Background 

1415–5R 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 

Red Bluff Office is seeking to renew a 

permit that allows them to annually take 

juvenile and adult SacR winter-run and 

CVS Chinook salmon, adult and 

juvenile CCV steelhead, and egg, larval, 

and juvenile SDPS green sturgeon in the 

Sacramento River and in Clear and 

Battle Creeks in the Central Valley, 

California. This permit renewal would 

cover nine research projects carried out 

by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

Red Bluff office. The names and 

purposes of the nine studies are: (1) 

Battle Creek Fish Community Structure 

Evaluation (Pre/Post-Restoration)—the 

primary goal of this study is to assess 

how fish community distribution 

changes in response to the restoration 

project. (2) Battle Creek Juvenile 

Salmonid Monitoring Project—the goal 

is to monitor annual juvenile 

production and develop production 

indices, assess restoration efforts, and 

gather information on the history and 

migration of juvenile salmonids. (3) 

Battle Creek Adult Salmonid Monitoring 

Project—the purpose is to monitor 

escapement, migration timing, and 

population distribution of adult spring 

run and steelhead. (4) Battle Creek 

emergence trapping—the purpose is to 

monitor fry emergence in conjunction 

with the Battle Creek winter-run 

Jumpstart Project and Reintroduction 

Program efforts. (5) Clear Creek Juvenile 

Salmonid Monitoring Project—the 

purpose is to monitor juvenile Chinook 

and steelhead production, size, 

condition, and environmental data with 

the goal of information restoration 

actions in Clear Creek. (6) Clear Creek 

Fish Restoration Program Monitoring— 

the purpose is to monitor restored 

stream channel form and function (i.e., 

improved water quality and quantity, 

reduced sedimentation, etc.). (7) 

Sacramento River Juvenile Fish 

Monitoring at Red Bluff Diversion Dam 

(RBDD)—the primary objectives of this 

project are to (a) obtain juvenile winter 

Chinook production indices and to 

correlate these indices with estimated 

escapement from adult estimates 

provided by the winter Chinook carcass 

survey, (b) define seasonal and temporal 

patterns of abundance of winter, spring, 


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fall and late-fall run Chinook salmon 

and steelhead trout passing the RBDD, 

and (c) obtain relative abundance 

information for green sturgeon and 

lamprey to monitor trends in 

abundance. (8) Life History Studies on 

the Sacramento River SDPS green 

sturgeon—the goal is to identify 

spawning habitat and larval and 

monitor juvenile rearing and migration 

movements in the Sacramento River. (9) 

Sacramento River Winter Chinook 

Salmon Carcass Survey—the carcass 

survey would help managers estimate 

the annual abundance of winter 

Chinook salmon spawners. Estimates of 

abundance would be made for both 

hatchery- and natural-origin fish. The 

research, a whole, would benefit listed 

fish by adding greatly to a large number 

of datasets that managers use to help 

them survive and recover. 

Under the various studies, juvenile 

salmon would be observed via snorkel 

surveys and captured using backpack 

electrofishing, rotary screw traps, 

emergence traps, trammel nets, and 

beach seines. In addition, juvenile 

salmon would be handled (anesthetized, 

weighed, measured, and checked for 

marks or tags), and released. A 

subsample of captured those fish may be 

anesthetized, tissue sampled and 

passive integrated transponder (PIT)- 

tagged prior to release. A small number 

of juvenile CVS Chinook and CCV 

steelhead (100 of each) would be 

sacrificed for otolith sampling and 

analysis. Adult salmon would be 

observed via snorkel surveys or 

spawning surveys and captured using 

beach seines and fish weirs. Tissues 

would be collected from any carcasses 

encountered during snorkel surveys. 

Juvenile green sturgeon would be 

captured (benthic trawls, trammel or gill 

nets), anesthetized, tissue sampled and 

tagged (PIT or acoustic). Larval green 

sturgeon would be captured using fyke 

nets. The same procedures described 

above would be performed on larvae 

captured with fyke nets (tagging would 

be dependent on size). Egg Mats would 

be used to sample green sturgeon larvae 

and eggs (eggs and larvae would be 

sacrificed). With the exception of the 

juvenile salmon otolith research (above), 

the researchers are not proposing to kill 

any of the fish being captured, but a 

small number of fish may be killed as 

an inadvertent result of these activities. 

1440–3R 

The Interagency Ecological Program 

(IEP) is a consortium of nine state and 

Federal agencies that work in 

partnership with non-governmental 

organizations to provide ecological 

information and scientific leadership in 

managing the San Francisco Bay-Delta 

estuary. The IEP is seeking to renew a 

permit that allows them to annually take 

adult and juvenile SacR winter-run and 

CVS Chinook salmon, CV and CCC 

steelhead, and SDPS green sturgeon in 

the San Francisco Bay-Delta Region, 

California. This permit renewal includes 

eleven projects. 

The names and purposes of the 11 

studies are: (1) The Adult Striped Bass 

Tagging Study—it is designed to 

quantify the population dynamics of 

Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) in the 

San Francisco Estuary and thereby 

provide metrics to inform science-based 

resource management decisions. These 

metrics include relative and absolute 

abundance, harvest rate, mortality rate, 

individual growth rates, and large-scale 

movement/migration patterns. (2) The 

Fall Midwater Trawl Survey—the study 

is a fish monitoring survey that provides 

trends in abundance and distribution of 

pelagic fish in the upper San Francisco 

Estuary. (3) The adult Sturgeon 

Population Tagging Study is designed to 

quantify the population dynamics of 

white and green Sturgeon in the San 

Francisco Estuary and provide metrics 

to inform science-based resource 

management decisions. These metrics 

include relative and absolute 

abundance, harvest rates, mortality 

rates, and individual growth rates. (4) 

The Summer Tow-net Survey is a fish 

monitoring survey that provides trends 

in abundance and distribution of young 

pelagic fish in the upper San Francisco 

estuary. (5) The San Francisco Bay 

Study—its purpose is to determine the 

effects of freshwater outflow on the 

abundance and distribution of fish and 

mobile crustaceans in the San Francisco 

Estuary, primarily downstream of the 

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. (6) The 

20-mm Survey is designed to monitor 

post-larval and juvenile Delta Smelt 

distribution and relative abundance 

throughout their historical spring range 

in the upper San Francisco estuary. (7) 

The Yolo Bypass Fish Monitoring 

Program is a monitoring effort designed 

to help mangers understand fish and 

invertebrate use in the Yolo Bypass 

seasonal floodplain/tidal slough habitat. 

(8) The Zooplankton Study—its purpose 

is to estimate the abundance of 

zooplankton taxa and thereby help 

managers assess trends in fish food 

resources from the eastern San Pablo 

Bay area through the eastern 

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and 

Suisun Marsh. The study is also 

intended to detect and monitor 

zooplankton recently introduced to the 

estuary and determine their effects on 

native species. (9) The Spring Kodiak 

Trawl Survey—its purpose is to 

determine the relative abundance and 

distribution of adult Delta Smelt in the 

San Francisco Bay area and identify the 

onset of spawning. (10) The Suisun 

Marsh Survey is designed to determine 

effects of the Suisun Marsh Salinity 

Control Gates operation (as well as other 

anthropogenic habitat changes) and 

monitor presence and abundance for 

juvenile striped bass, Chinook salmon, 

and other species of concern. (11) The 

Smelt Larva Survey is intended to 

provide near real-time distribution data 

for Longfin Smelt larvae in the upper 

San Francisco Estuary. The data 

generated from this study would be 

used to help improve the effectiveness 

of water operations, aquatic habitat 

restoration, and fish management 

practices. The research, as a whole, 

would benefit fish by adding greatly to 

the knowledge base that state, private, 

and Federal managers depend on to 

help them make decisions about the best 

ways in which resources can be 

allocated to help listed species recover. 

Under the various projects juvenile 

salmon would be captured (via fyke 

nets, gill nets, midwater trawls, trammel 

nets, hoop nets, otter trawls, larval fish 

nets, zooplankton nets, Kodiak trawl 

nets, rotatory screw traps, and beach 

seine), handled, and released. A small 

subset of the juvenile fish would be 

captured, anesthetized, measured, 

weighed, tagged, tissue sampled, and 

released. Adult salmon would be 

captured (via fyke nets, midwater 

trawls, trammel nets, hoop nets, otter 

trawls, Kodiak trawl nets, and beach 

seines), handled, and released. A small 

subset of adult salmon would be 

captured, anesthetized, measured, 

weighed, tagged, tissue sampled and 

released. Under three of the projects 

(Studies 5, 7, and 9) some adiposeclipped, artificially propagated juvenile 

spring- and winter-run Chinook salmon 

would intentionally be sacrificed to 

collect coded wire tags (the data from 

which would be used for management 

purposes). In addition, adult green 

sturgeon would be captured (fyke net, 

trammel net, midwater trawl, otter 

trawl), handled, and released. A subset 

of juvenile and adult greens sturgeon 

would be captured, anesthetized, 

measured, weighed, tagged, tissue 

sampled, and released. With the 

exception of the directed mortality of 

adipose-clipped juvenile salmon 

(above), the researchers are not 

proposing to kill any of the fish being 

captured, but a small number of 

juveniles may be killed as an 

inadvertent result of these activities. 


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13675–3R 

The Fishery Foundation of California 

is seeking to renew a permit that 

currently allows them to annually take 

juvenile SacR winter-run and CVS 

Chinook salmon, juvenile CV steelhead, 

and juvenile SDPS green sturgeon in the 

Sacramento River, CA. Juvenile salmon 

and green sturgeon would be captured 

(via beach seines and fyke nets), 

handled, and released. The purpose of 

this research is to evaluate salmon 

presence and habitat in flood plain 

areas. The data generated from this 

research would benefit listed fish by 

helping managers design, implement, 

and manage riparian habitat sites along 

the Sacramento River for the purpose of 

helping anadromous salmonids recover. 

The researchers are not proposing to kill 

any of the fish being captured, but a 

small number of juveniles may be killed 

as an inadvertent result of these 

activities. 

15486–3R 

West Fork Environmental is seeking 

to renew a previously held permit that 

in its new iteration would allow them 

to capture and handle juvenile UCR 

Chinook salmon, LCR Chinook salmon, 

UWR Chinook salmon, SnkR spr/sum 

Chinook, SnkR fall Chinook, PS 

Chinook salmon, LCR coho salmon, OC 

coho salmon, UCR steelhead, SnkR 

steelhead, MCR steelhead, LCR 

steelhead, UWR steelhead, and PS 

steelhead during the course of 

headwater stream surveys over wide 

parts of Oregon and Washington. The 

purpose of the research is to provide 

owners of industrial forest lands and 

state lands managers with accurate 

maps of where threatened and 

endangered salmonids are found. The 

work would benefit the salmon and 

steelhead by helping land managers 

plan and carry out their activities in 

ways that would have the smallest effect 

possible on the listed fish. The 

researchers would use backpack 

electrofishing equipment to capture the 

fish. After capture, the fish would be 

swiftly released without tagging or even 

handling more than is necessary to 

ensure that they have recovered from 

the effects of being captured. The West 

Fork Environmental researchers do not 

intend to kill any listed salmonids, but 

a small number may die as an 

unintended result of the activities. 

15549–3R 

The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish 

Commission (CRITFC) is seeking a 5- 

year permit to expand on and extend 

work previously conducted under other 

research permits (Permits 1532 and 

15549–2R). The research would take 

place in Satus, Ahtanum, Naches, and 

Toppenish Creeks in Washington State. 

The researchers wish to take juvenile 

MCR steelhead during the course of 

research designed to determine the 

fishes’ freshwater movements and 

examine how those movements are 

affected by the area’s substantially 

altered hydrograph. They would also 

collect baseline information on stock 

status and yearly abundance and seek to 

determine whether repeat spawners 

from a kelt reconditioning program run 

by the Confederated Bands and Tribes of 

the Yakama Nation are successfully 

reproducing. 

The fish would be captured (via screw 

traps and backpack electrofishing 

equipment) and then be anesthetized 

and measured. Some would be tissuesampled for DNA and aging purposes 

and some would receive PIT tags. The 

information gathered would be used to 

determine the fishes’ movements and 

abundance and monitor the ongoing 

status of the various MCR steelhead 

populations in the Yakima River 

subbasin. The research would benefit 

the fish by helping managers determine 

the effectiveness of current recovery 

measures and design new ones where 

needed. The researchers do not plan to 

kill any of the fish being captured, but 

a few may die as an unintentional result 

of the research. 

15611–3R 

The Washington Department of Fish 

and Wildlife is seeking to renew a 

permit that allows it to take adult LCR 

Chinook salmon, LCR steelhead, LCR 

coho salmon, and CR chum salmon 

while operating a fish collection facility 

on the North Fork Toutle River in 

Washington State. The fish collection 

facility is located at river mile 47.5, 

approximately 1.3 miles (about 2.1 km) 

downstream from the Mount St. Helens 

Sediment Retention Structure. The 

purpose of the project is to trap and 

haul salmon and steelhead around the 

sediment retention structure. The 

Washington Department of Fish and 

Wildlife would also collect scientific 

information and tag a portion of the fish 

to monitor migration patterns and 

spawning success. The activities’ 

primary benefit would be to allow listed 

salmon and steelhead to spawn in 

historically accessible habitat upstream 

of the sediment retention structure. 

Also, researchers would collect 

information that would increase our 

understanding of the various species’ 

spawning habits. The Washington 

Department of Fish and Wildlife 

proposes to operate the trap several days 

a week during the species’ upstream 

migration. Captured fish would be 

transported in a tanker truck and 

released upstream of the sediment 

retention structure. The Washington 

Department of Fish and Wildlife does 

not intend to kill any fish being 

captured but some may die as an 

unintentional result of the activities. 

16274–2R 

The Mendocino Redwood Company 

(MRC) is seeking to renew a permit that 

currently allows them to annually take 

adult and juvenile CCC Chinook, CCC 

steelhead, SONCC coho, and CCC coho 

salmon in Mendocino and Northern 

Sonoma Counties on Mendocino 

Redwood Company lands. Adult fish 

would be observed and tissue samples 

would be collected from carcasses found 

during spawning surveys. Juvenile 

salmon would be observed via snorkel 

surveys and captured (via backpack 

electrofishing and screw traps), 

anesthetized, weighed, measured, and 

released. A small subset of juvenile fish 

would be captured, marked (dye, 

elastomer, or fin clip), PIT-tagged, tissue 

sampled, and released. The purpose of 

the research is to assess juvenile and 

adult distribution and population 

structure in streams on MRC’s property. 

The data gathered in these studies 

would benefit listed fish by helping 

MRC better understand salmonid 

distribution, abundance, and habitat use 

in these areas—and thereby design and 

carry out their management activities in 

the most fish-friendly way possible. The 

researchers are not proposing to kill any 

of the fish being captured, but a small 

number of juveniles may be killed as an 

inadvertent result of these activities. 

16290–4R 

The Oregon Department of Fish and 

Wildlife (ODFW) is seeking to renew 

permit that allows it to take juvenile 

UWR Chinook salmon, UWR steelhead, 

LCR Chinook salmon, LCR steelhead, 

LCR coho salmon, and CR chum salmon 

while conducting research on the 

Oregon chub. The purpose of the 

research is to study the distribution, 

abundance, and factors limiting the 

recovery of Oregon chub. The Oregon 

chub is endemic to the Willamette 

Valley of Oregon and the habitats it 

depends on are important to salmonids. 

Research on the Oregon chub would 

benefit listed salmonids by helping 

managers recover habitats that the 

species share. The ODFW researchers 

would use boat electrofishing 

equipment, minnow traps, beach seines, 

dip nets, hoop nets, and fyke nets to 

capture juvenile fish. Once the fish are 

captured, they would swiftly be 

counted, allowed to recover, and then 


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released back to the sites of their 

capture. Researchers would avoid 

contact with adult fish at all times. If 

listed salmonids are captured during the 

research they would be released before 

processing any other fish. The 

researchers do not expect to kill any 

listed salmonids but a small number 

may die as an unintended result of the 

research activities. 

17077–3R 

The Center for Watershed Sciences at 

the University of California at Davis, is 

seeking to renew a permit that currently 

allows them to annually take adult and 

juvenile SacR winter-run and CVS 

Chinook salmon, CCV steelhead and 

SDPS green sturgeon in the SacramentoSan Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh in 

the Central Valley, CA. The project 

specifically targets splittail and other 

native minnow populations, however 

ESA-listed species may be taken as well. 

Juvenile fish would be captured (via 

otter trawling, beach seining, and 

electrofishing), handled and released. 

Adult fish would also be captured (via 

otter trawling, beach seining), handled, 

and released. The purpose of this 

project is to better understand how 

physical habitats, flow, and other factors 

interact to maintain assemblages of 

native and non-native aquatic species in 

the upper San Francisco estuary. This 

study would benefit listed fish by 

providing knowledge about food webs 

and the habitats that support them. It 

would improve our ability to create and 

restore additional habitat and help 

managers anticipate the effects of 

drought, climate change, sea level rise, 

increased temperatures, and changing 

hydrologic conditions. The researchers 

are not proposing to kill any of the fish 

being captured, but a small number of 

juveniles may be killed as an 

inadvertent result of these activities. 

17219–3R 

NMFS’s Southwest Fisheries Science 

Center, Fisheries Ecology Division, is 

seeking to renew a permit that currently 

allows them to annually take juvenile 

and adult CCC, NC and S–CCC 

steelhead, and CCC and SONCC coho 

salmon in coastal streams throughout 

California. Juvenile fish would be 

captured (via screw trap, backpack 

electrofishing, beach seines, hook and 

line fishing, and hand- or dip nets), 

handled, and released. A subset of the 

captured fish would be anesthetized, 

sampled (collection of scales, fin clips, 

or stomach contents), marked or tagged 

(using fin clips, PIT tags, pop-off 

satellite tags, acoustic tags, or radio 

tags), and released. In limited cases, 

some juvenile steelhead would be 

captured and euthanized for otolith ad 

contaminant analysis. Adult steelhead 

and coho would be observed via 

spawning surveys, and tissue samples 

would be collected from carcasses found 

during those surveys. Adult steelhead 

would be captured (at fish ladders and 

by hook-and-line angling), tagged, tissue 

sampled, and released. 

The purpose of this research is to 

support conservation and management 

of ESA-listed anadromous salmonids in 

California by directly addressing 

information needs that NMFS and other 

agencies identify for the benefit of the 

listed fish. This data collected would be 

used to elucidate population abundance 

and dynamics; evaluate factors affecting 

growth, survival, and life-histories; 

assess life-stage specific habitat use and 

movement; inform various types of 

models (e.g., population, life-cycle, 

bioenergetics, and habitat-use models); 

determine genetic structure within 

populations; evaluate the effects how 

activities such as water management 

and habitat restoration affect 

populations; and develop improved 

sampling and monitoring methods. With 

the exception of a small number of 

juvenile steelhead that would be 

sacrificed for otolith and contaminant 

research (above), the researchers are not 

proposing to kill any of the fish being 

captured, but a small number of 

juveniles may be killed as an 

inadvertent result of these activities. 

17351–2R 

The Green Diamond Resource 

Company is seeking to renew a permit 

that currently allows them to annually 

take juvenile and adult CC Chinook, 

SONCC coho, and NC steelhead on 

Green Diamond lands in the Chetco, 

Smith, Lower Klamath, Mad-Redwood, 

and Lower Eel watersheds in Northern 

California. Adult salmon would be 

observed during spawning surveys and 

tissue samples would be collected from 

carcasses found during those surveys. A 

small number of adult steelhead may 

also be captured during screw trapping. 

Juvenile salmon would be captured (via 

backpack electrofishing, snorkel 

surveys, and screw trapping), handled 

and released. A small subset of juvenile 

fish would be captured, anesthetized, 

marked, tagged, tissue sampled and 

released. 

The purpose of this research is to 

determine fish presence and 

distribution, monitor timing and 

abundance of out-migrating salmon, 

determine population estimates of 

summer rearing juveniles, and 

determine habitat use and relative 

number of spawning adults. The data 

from this research would be used to 

benefit listed fish by helping Green 

Diamond Resource Company minimize 

the effects that timber harvest activities 

on their land may have. The researchers 

are not proposing to kill any of the fish 

being captured, but a small number of 

juveniles may be killed as an 

inadvertent result of these activities. 

18696–5M 

The Idaho Power company is seeking 

to modify a 5-year permit that currently 

allows them to annually capture 

juvenile and adult SnkR fall Chinook 

salmon, SnkR spr/sum Chinook salmon, 

SnkR steelhead, and SnkR sockeye 

salmon while studying juvenile white 

sturgeon in and near Lower Granite 

Reservoir on the Snake River. The 

permit would be modified by combining 

it with a similar permit that Idaho 

Power holds (19846) that currently 

allows it to take those same species 

while studying bull trout in much the 

same area. The total action area of the 

two permits combined would extend 

from the confluence of the Snake and 

Grande Ronde Rivers up to the first of 

the Hells Canyon Complex of dams. The 

researchers would use small-mesh gill 

nets, benthic otter trawls, and hook-andline angling to capture the fish. The gill 

net fishing would take place at times 

(October and November) and in areas 

(the bottom of the reservoir) that have 

purposefully been chosen to have the 

least possible impact on listed fish. 

When the nets are pulled to the surface, 

listed species would immediately be 

released (including by cutting the net, if 

necessary) and allowed to return to the 

reservoir. The d-ring fishing would take 

place in June and July, but the same 

restrictions (immediately releasing 

listed fish, etc.) would still apply. The 

same is true for the otter trawls that 

would take place solely in July and the 

angling that would be performed from 

December-March. 

The research targets species that are 

not listed, but the research would 

benefit listed salmonids by generating 

information about the habitat conditions 

in the Snake River and by helping 

managers develop conservation plans 

for the species that inhabit it. The 

researchers are not proposing to kill any 

of the fish they capture, but a small 

number of individuals may be killed as 

an inadvertent result of the activities. 

18908–2R 

The Skagit Fisheries Enhancement 

Group (SFEG) is seeking to renew a 

permit that allows them to annually take 

juvenile PS Chinook salmon and PS 

steelhead while conducting research to 

monitor how fish use side-channel 

habitat in floodplain and tributaries of 


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the Skagit River in Washington. Fish 

would be captured by beach seine, 

handled (weighed, measured, and 

checked for marks or tags), and released. 

The purpose of the research is to assess 

juvenile salmonid habitat use and 

relative abundance in off-channel areas 

and thereby help improve efforts to 

increase access to off-channel areas and 

enhance rearing habitat quality in those 

areas. The SFEG would use the data to 

identify sites in need of restoration, 

target enhancement efforts, confirm 

post-project effectiveness, and guide 

future projects so that ongoing work can 

focus on appropriate areas and help 

create conditions that provide high 

quality rearing habitat. The project also 

aims to educate the public on the 

importance of floodplain habitat 

restoration for juvenile salmonids, and 

would contribute data to other regional 

research projects currently evaluating 

the role of off-channel habitats in 

salmonid growth and development. The 

researchers are not proposing to kill any 

fish they capture, but a small number of 

juvenile salmon and steelhead may be 

killed as an inadvertent result of these 

activities. 

19320–2R 

NMFS’s Southwest Fisheries Science 

Center is seeking to renew a permit that 

currently allows them to annually take 

listed salmonids while conducting 

research designed to: (1) Determine the 

inter-annual and seasonal variability in 

growth, feeding, and energy status 

among juvenile salmonids in the coastal 

ocean off northern and central 

California; (2) determine migration 

paths and spatial distribution among 

genetically distinct salmonid stocks 

during their early ocean residence; (3) 

characterize the biological and physical 

oceanographic features associated with 

juvenile salmon ocean habitat from the 

shore to the continental shelf break; (4) 

identify potential links between coastal 

geography, oceanographic features, and 

salmon distribution patterns; and (5) 

identify and test ecological indices for 

salmon survival. The renewed permit 

would allow the researchers to take 

juvenile and subadult CC Chinook, CVS 

Chinook, LCR Chinook, SacR winter-run 

Chinook, SnkR spr/sum Chinook, CCC 

coho, SONCC coho, CCV steelhead, CCC 

steelhead, and NC steelhead. 

This research would benefit listed fish 

by informing comprehensive lifecycle 

models that incorporate both freshwater 

and marine conditions and seek to 

account for the relationship between the 

two habitats. The data would also be 

used to identify and predict sources of 

salmon mortality at sea and thereby 

help managers develop indices of 

salmonid survival in the marine 

environment. Listed fish would be 

captured primarily via surface trawling, 

however beach seining would be used 

occasionally as would hook-and-line 

microtrolling. Subadult salmonids (i.e., 

fish larger than 250 mm) that survive 

capture would have fin tissue and scale 

samples taken, and then be released. 

During the trawling operations, any 

subadult salmonids that do not survive 

capture, and all juvenile salmonids (i.e., 

fish larger than 80 mm but less than 250 

mm) would be lethally sampled 

(sacrificed) in order to collect (1) 

otoliths for age and growth studies; (2) 

coded wire tags for origin and age of 

hatchery fish; (3) muscle tissue for 

stable isotopes and/or lipid assays; (4) 

stomachs and contents for diet studies; 

and (5) other tissues including the heart, 

liver, intestines, pyloric caeca, and 

kidney for special studies upon request. 

For the other types of capture, some of 

the fish may be tissue sampled, tagged, 

and released (particularly adults), 

though some juveniles would still be 

lethally sampled for the reasons just 

described. In all cases, whenever a fish 

dies simply as a result of being 

captured, that fish would be used in 

place of an intentional mortality (that is, 

instead of a fish that would otherwise be 

sacrificed). 

19738–2R 

The Washington Department of 

Natural Resources (DNR) is seeking to 

renew a permit that allows them to 

annually take juvenile PS Chinook 

salmon and PS steelhead while 

conducting research in headwater 

streams on DNR-managed lands that 

drain into Puget Sound. Juvenile fish 

would be detected via backpack 

electrofishing encounters (considered a 

capture event for this method) and, if 

stunned, would be netted (dip net) and 

released in a low gradient stream 

segment or pool and allowed to recover. 

The purpose of this research is to 

determine fish presence in small 

streams on state-managed lands to 

ensure that those streams are 

appropriately typed, adequately 

protected with riparian management 

zones (RMZs), and adequately restored 

(e.g., via removal of man-made 

structures that limit or restrict fish 

passage to upstream habitat). Data 

generated by this proposal would 

benefit listed fish by informing land 

management decision-making (e.g., 

RMZ width, culvert replacement/ 

sizing), and it would also be submitted 

to DNR Forest Practices division to 

improve the existing stream type 

geographic information systems 

database. The researchers are not 

proposing to kill any fish captured, but 

a small number of juveniles may be 

killed as an inadvertent result of these 

activities. 

19741–2R 

The Yakama Nation is seeking a 5- 

year permit to annually take juvenile, 

natural MCR steelhead during the 

course of a research project designed to 

assess their current abundance in the 

Rock Creek watershed in south central 

Washington. Under the permit, the 

researchers would employ backpack 

electrofishing to capture a number of 

juvenile MCR steelhead. Some of those 

fish would be tagged with PIT-tags, and 

some would be tissue-sampled, but most 

would simply be handled and released. 

The researchers would work primarily 

in five reference areas (reaches) and 

they would use mark/recapture 

techniques to study juvenile 

development and movement in Rock 

Creek. They would also conduct some 

boat electrofishing in the inundated 

pool downstream from the research area 

in Rock Creek—primarily to look at 

predator abundance. In addition, the 

researchers would take tissue samples 

from dead adults during spawning 

ground surveys. The purpose of the 

research is to assess the current 

distribution and relative abundance of 

MCR steelhead in selected portions of 

Rock Creek. That information would be 

integrated with information being 

collected on other ecological parameters 

and the researches would use that 

information as a whole to determine 

species status in the system and 

evaluate the effectiveness of several 

habitat restoration actions that have 

been going on there for a number of 

years. This research would benefit listed 

steelhead in that it would be used by 

fish managers such as the Rock Creek 

Subbasin Recovery Planning Group to 

prioritize to plan restoration, protection, 

and recovery actions for Rock Creek 

steelhead. 

22482–2R 

NMFS’s Northwest Fisheries Science 

Center (NWFSC) is seeking to renew for 

5 years a permit that currently allows 

them to take juvenile LCR, SnkR fallrun, UCR spring-run, and UWR Chinook 

salmon; CR chum salmon; LCR coho 

salmon; SnkR sockeye salmon; and LCR, 

MCR, SnkR basin, UCR, and UWR 

steelhead. The purpose of the study is 

to measure contaminant levels in 

resident sculpin in the lower Willamette 

River (Oregon) near a Superfund site 

with high levels of pollutants. The target 

species for sampling, prickly sculpin, is 

benthic-feeding and has a small home 

range, thus contaminant analysis of its 

tissues reflects environmental 


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conditions at a localized area. Listed 

salmonids could be unintentionally 

captured during sampling activities. The 

study results would support an ongoing 

Natural Resource Damage Assessment, 

the purpose of which is to document 

and quantify injuries to natural 

resources resulting from exposure to 

hazardous substances. The proposed 

research study would benefit listed 

species by improving managers’ 

understanding of the extent of 

contamination in the studied habitats 

and informing habitat restoration 

activities. 

The researchers propose to collect fish 

between river miles 2 and 11 of the 

Willamette River, and at appropriate 

reference sites nearby in the Lower 

Willamette River. The researchers 

would conduct sampling from August 

through October. The researchers would 

use vinyl-coated wire shrimp traps with 

1.0 cm x 0.5 cm openings and baited 

with canned meat and bait scent. Any 

listed salmonids that are 

unintentionally captured would be 

transferred to buckets of aerated water, 

identified, counted, checked for fin 

clips, passive integrated transponder, 

and coded wire tags, and then swiftly 

released near the site of capture. 

23029–2R 

The NWFSC is seeking to renew a 

permit that allows them to annually take 

juvenile PS/GB bocaccio rockfish and 

yelloweye rockfish, juvenile PS 

steelhead, and juvenile and adult PS 

Chinook salmon and SDPS eulachon in 

several river estuaries and bays of South 

Puget Sound, Washington. Fish would 

be captured via beach seine or otter 

trawl, handled (identified, measured, 

checked for marks or tags), and released. 

The goal of this research is to sample 

juvenile English sole and juvenile starry 

flounder and use the study results to 

support an ongoing Natural Resource 

Damage Assessment—the purpose of 

which is to document and quantify 

injuries to natural resources resulting 

from exposure to hazardous substances. 

The proposed research study would 

benefit listed species by improving 

managers’ understanding of the extent 

of contamination in the studied habitats 

and helping inform habitat restoration 

activities. 

The researchers are not targeting any 

ESA-listed fish for capture as part of this 

research, but juveniles and adults may 

be unintentionally captured. The work 

would benefit listed species by helping 

guide habitat restoration activities in the 

Puget Sound. The researchers are also 

not proposing to kill any ESA-listed 

fish, but a small number may be killed 

as an inadvertent result of these 

activities. 

23649–2M 

Mount Hood Environmental is 

seeking to modify a 5-year permit that 

currently allows them to annually take 

juvenile MCR steelhead from a nonessential experimental population (NEP) 

in the Crooked River (Deschutes River 

watershed) in central Oregon. They are 

seeking to modify the permit by slightly 

increasing the take they are allotted, and 

the reason for this request is that new 

information has come to light indicating 

that there may be more steelhead 

present in the action area than 

previously believed. The researchers 

would use backpack electrofishing units 

and screw traps to capture the fish, 

which would then be measured, 

weighed, checked for marks and tags, 

allowed to recover, and released back to 

the river. A subsample of the captured 

fish may also be tissue-sampled for 

genetic assays. The purpose of the 

research is to establish baseline 

population information (presence, 

abundance, density, etc.) on MCR 

steelhead and native redband trout in 

the vicinity of Bowman Dam, on the 

Crooked River. 

As noted above, the MCR steelhead 

that currently occupy the action area are 

technically part of an NEP. Taking 

members of this population for 

scientific purposes is permitted by 

regulation at 50 CFR 223.301 but, for the 

sake of analysis, they are considered 

part of the listed MCR steelhead DPS. 

The reason for that is that the NEP will 

expire on January 15, 2025—at which 

point the population will simply be 

considered part of the MCR steelhead 

DPS (although it should be noted the 

NEP abundance is not currently counted 

along with the rest of the DPS). The 

proposed work would benefit the 

species by helping managers maintain 

and operate Bowman Dam (and a 

possible new hydroelectric turbine 

proposed for construction there) in the 

most fish-friendly manner possible. The 

researchers do not intend to kill any of 

the fish being captured, but a small 

number may die as an unintended result 

of the activities 

Permit 24151 

The U.S. Forest Service is seeking a 5- 

year permit that would allow them to 

take juvenile OC coho salmon during 

the course of research intended to help 

managers understand how juvenile coho 

salmon continue to thrive in a coastal 

lake currently containing resident 

populations of trophy predatory fishes 

(Tahkenitch Lake, Oregon). The 

researchers would use beach seines, 

minnow traps, and backpack 

electrofishing to capture fish in the 

tributaries to the lake and boat seines, 

beach seines, and hook-and-line fishing 

with barbless hooks in the lake and 

along the lake margins. The purpose of 

the research is to document coho 

salmon habitat shifts (seasonal and 

otherwise) and determine when and 

where predation by bass is occurring. 

The captured fish would be sedated and 

then weighed and measured. The fish 

would then be allowed to recover and 

be released back to the sites of their 

capture. The proposed work would 

benefit the species by helping managers 

better understand species interaction in 

critical coastal lake habitat and thereby 

help them take measures to promote 

coho salmon recovery. The researchers 

do not intend to kill any of the fish 

being captured, but a small number may 

die as an inadvertent result of the 

proposed activities. 

24255 

The California Department of Fish 

and Wildlife, Fish Restoration Program, 

is seeking a new 5-year permit that 

would allow them to annually take 

juvenile and adult SacR winter-run and 

CVS Chinook salmon, CCV steelhead, 

and SDPS green sturgeon in the 

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta including 

Suisun Marsh and Grizzly Bay. Adult 

fish would be captured (via otter trawl, 

lampara seine), handled, and released. 

Juvenile fish could be captured (via 

beach seine, otter trawl, lampara seine, 

zooplankton net, backpack 

electrofishing) handled, and released. 

The purpose of this research is to 

monitor food web dynamics and fish 

populations before and after restoration 

and among reference, restored, and prerestoration sites. This data would be 

used to assess the effectiveness of 

habitat restoration with regard to native 

fish populations and would therefore 

benefit listed fish by helping improve 

such restoration activities. The 

researchers are not proposing to kill any 

of the fish being captured, but a small 

number of juveniles may be killed as an 

inadvertent result of these activities. 

24367 

NMFS’s Northwest Fisheries Science 

Center is seeking a permit that would 

allow them to annually take juvenile PS 

Chinook salmon, PS steelhead, and HC 

summer-run chum salmon in nearshore 

areas of the San Juan Islands, Whidbey 

Island, and in the Central and Southern 

Puget Sound, Washington. Fish would 

be captured by lampara seines, handled 

(weighed, measured, and checked for 

marks or tags), and released. A subset of 

juvenile PS Chinook salmon and HC 


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chum would be intentionally lethally 

taken (sacrificed) for stable isotope 

analysis. The purposes of the research 

are (1) to evaluate how shoreline 

restoration affects subtidal use of 

nearshore habitats by fishes—namely 

salmonids and forage fish, in Puget 

Sound; and (2) assess the role landscape 

context (particularly shoreline 

armoring) plays in influencing these 

relationships. Data would be used to 

establish relationships between 

nearshore subtidal fish abundance and 

the degree of shoreline development, 

and fish habitat use data would be 

incorporated into the existing Beach 

Strategies database to further inform 

restoration decisions (and thereby 

benefit the listed fish). The researchers 

are proposing to kill a small subset of 

juvenile ESA-listed PS Chinook salmon 

and Hood Canal chum salmon captured, 

and a small number of juveniles of all 

species may be killed as an inadvertent 

result of sampling activities. 

25409 

Researchers from Oregon State 

University are seeking a 5-year permit 

that would allow them to document 

changes in fish community 

composition, macroinvertebrate 

community composition, and water 

quality that result from maintenance 

activities in agricultural channels. The 

project comes in response to Oregon 

State legislation (HB 2437 section 10), 

and is designed to help managers 

understand how cleaning and 

maintenance activities in agricultural 

ditches affect the ecosystems in those 

ditches. The researchers would capture 

fish by electrofishing, minnow traps, 

and seine nets in 50-meter, closed-off 

(with mesh block nets) channel sections. 

Minnow traps would be deployed the 

afternoon before the sampling day and 

be checked the following morning 

before the next capture method is 

deployed. Seine netting would be used 

when the site is safely accessible to 

capture animals that are not easily 

caught (too large) in minnow traps. 

Electrofishing would be used after both 

other methods are completed and would 

be conducted in a one-pass collecting 

event. Once collected, the fish would be 

housed in aerated containers, weighed, 

measured, and then released back to the 

sites of their capture. The research 

would benefit the listed species by 

helping mangers understand how a 

common agricultural practices—ditch 

cleaning and maintenance—affects them 

and the habitats upon which they 

depend. The researchers do not intend 

to kill any of the fish being captured, 

but some may die as an inadvertent 

result of the activities. 

25463 

The Moss Landing Marine Lab is 

seeing a new 5-year permit that would 

allow them to annually take adult and 

juvenile SacR winter-run, CVS, and CC 

Chinook salmon; SONCC and CCC coho 

salmon; CCV, CCC, NC, S–CCC and SC 

steelhead; and SDPS steelhead 

throughout California. Fish would be 

captured (via electrofishing, hook-andline angling, otter trawls, cast nets, 

beach seines, gill nets, and minnow 

traps), handled, and released. The Moss 

Landing Marine Laboratories’ Marine 

Pollution Studies Lab is a primary 

contributor to the California State Water 

Board’s Surface Water Ambient 

Monitoring Program’s Bioaccumulation 

Oversight Group. Results from these 

efforts in streams, rivers, lakes, 

reservoirs, bays, harbors, and coastal 

water bodies in California would be 

used to (1) measure contaminant levels 

in fish and shellfish over time to track 

temporal trends and evaluate the 

effectiveness of management efforts; (2) 

help managers evaluate contaminant 

spatial patterns; (3) perform Clean Water 

Act assessments; and (4) create and 

update human health advisories and 

assessments. Fish sampling would occur 

in California’s anadromous and nonanadromous water bodies (streams, 

rivers, lakes, reservoirs, bays, harbors, 

and coastal) using various methods of 

take that would be variably employed to 

minimize risk to (non-targeted) listed 

species. Tissue samples would be 

analyzed for contaminants such as (but 

not limited to) mercury, metals, 

selenium, PCBs, legacy pesticides, and 

contaminants of emerging concern. The 

research would benefit listed fish by 

helping managers keep track of 

contaminants throughout the state and 

develop response plans accordingly. 

The researchers are not proposing to kill 

any of the listed fish being captured, but 

a small number of juveniles may be 

killed as an inadvertent result of these 

activities. 

25466 

Tim Salamunovich, Senior Fish 

Biologist for TRPA Fish Biologists, is 

seeing a new 5-year permit that would 

allow him to annually take juvenile and 

adult steelhead in Ulatis Project Flood 

Control channels in (mainly) 

channelized portions of Ulatis, New 

Alamo, Sweeney, Gibson, Canyon, 

Horse, and McCune creeks in the Lower 

Sacramento River, CA. Fish would be 

captured via backpack electrofishing, 

anesthetized, measured, weighed, tissue 

sampled, and released. The purpose of 

this research is to assess fish population 

responses to managed flows by 

collecting biological data (lengths, 

weights, and counts) on the fish 

populations in order to monitor their 

distribution and diversity as well as 

their overall condition and health. The 

data from this research would be used 

to update information on the 

distribution, relative abundance, 

diversity, and health of fish in Ulatis 

Project stream channels and would 

therefore benefit the fish by helping 

managers operate the channels in as 

fish-friendly a manner as possible. The 

researchers are not proposing to kill any 

of the fish being captured, but a small 

number of juveniles may be killed as an 

inadvertent result of these activities. 

Authority 

Scientific research permits are issued 

in accordance with section 10(a)(1)(A) 

of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and 

regulations governing listed fish and 

wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 222–226). 

NMFS issues permits based on findings 

that such permits: (1) Are applied for in 

good faith; (2) if granted and exercised, 

would not operate to the disadvantage 

of the listed species that are the subject 

of the permit; and (3) are consistent 

with the purposes and policy of section 

2 of the ESA. The authority to take 

listed species is subject to conditions set 

forth in the permits. 

Anyone requesting a hearing on an 

application listed in this notice should 

set out the specific reasons why a 

hearing on that application would be 

appropriate (see ADDRESSES). Such 

hearings are held at the discretion of the 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

NMFS. 

Applications Received 

This notice is provided pursuant to 

section 10(c) of the ESA. NMFS will 

evaluate the applications, associated 

documents, and comments submitted to 

determine whether the applications 

meet the requirements of section 10(a) 

of the ESA and Federal regulations. The 

final permit decisions will not be made 

until after the end of the 30-day 

comment period. NMFS will publish 

notice of its final action in the Federal 

Register. 

Dated: February 9, 2021. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02989 Filed 2–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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