[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 146 (Wednesday, July 30, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40802-40803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19957]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 072197A]


Endangered Species; Permits

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

ACTION: Receipt of an application for a scientific research permit 
(P654).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Idaho Fishery Resource Office 
of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Ahsahka, ID (FWS) has applied 
in due form for a permit that would provide authorization for a take of 
a threatened species for the purpose of scientific research.

DATES: Written comments or requests for a public hearing on this 
application must be received on or before August 29, 1997.

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, F/NWO3, 525 NE Oregon Street, Suite

[[Page 40803]]

500, Portland, OR 97232-4169 (503-230-5400).
    Written comments or requests for a public hearing should be 
submitted to the Chief, Protected Resources Division in Portland, OR.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FWS requests 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).
    FWS (P654) requests a 5-year permit for an annual take of adult, 
threatened, Snake River fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) 
associated with research designed to monitor and evaluate adult returns 
of hatchery-origin fall chinook salmon released as juveniles above 
Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River in the Pacific Northwest. Although 
the focus of the research is on non-listed hatchery fish, FWS also 
propose to collect information on ESA-listed, natural-origin, fall 
chinook salmon. Currently, information on ESA-listed, natural-origin 
fish is needed to assess the impacts of fish management actions (e.g., 
hatchery supplementation), as well as other human activities (e.g., 
regulated river flows), on wild fish populations. The research has two 
components: 1) Radio-tagging returning adult salmon at Lower Granite 
Dam to document the movements and spawning distribution of known 
natural-origin fall chinook salmon above the dam, and 2) collecting 
data and scale/tissue samples from spawned-out adult fish in the Snake 
River and tributaries above Lower Granite Dam to augment information on 
spawning distribution collected from radio-tagged fish. For the radio-
tagging component, ESA-listed adult fish are proposed to be captured, 
anesthetized, handled (measured, sampled for scales and tissues, tagged 
with radio transmitters), allowed to recover from the anesthetic, and 
released. For the spawned-out fish component, ESA-listed adult fish are 
proposed to be monitored for the development of redds during weekly 
aerial surveys, observed from shore or from a boat to determine if the 
fish are near natural death (spawned-out), captured by rod and reel, 
handled (measured, sampled for scales and tissues, checked for tags), 
and released. Tissue samples will subsequently be analyzed for genetic 
attributes and population determinants.
    Those individuals requesting a hearing (see ADDRESSES) should set 
out the specific reasons why a hearing on this application would be 
appropriate. The holding of such hearing is at the discretion of the 
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA. All statements and 
opinions contained in this application summary are those of the 
applicant and do not necessarily reflect the views of NMFS.

    Dated: July 23, 1997.
Nancy Chu,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-19957 Filed 7-29-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F