Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 88 /Thursday, May 7, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 25177

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 17

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

and Plants: One-year Finding for a

Petition To List the Harlequin Duck

(Histrionicus histrionicus) in Eastern

North America as Endangered or

Threatened

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of one-year petition

finding.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service) under the Endangered

Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act),

announces a one-year finding on a

petition to add the harlequin duck

(Histrionicus histrionicus) in eastern

North America to the List of Endangered

and Threatened Wildlife. After review

of all available scientific and

commercial information, the Service

finds that listing the harlequin duck is

not warranted at this time.

The Service has based this finding on

the following: (1) Prohibition of hunting

since 1990 throughout the harlequin

duck’s entire range in eastern North

America; (2) lack of substantial

information indicating that the species’

breeding, wintering, or staging habitat is

likely to be curtailed, modified or

destroyed; (3) lack of substantial

information indicating that

overutilization for commercial,

recreational, scientific or educational

purposes is significantly affecting the

species; (4) lack of information

indicating that disease or predation is

causing a significant loss of individuals

of the species; (5) lack of adequate

information on population discreteness,

size, and other parameters to indicate

the species is likely at or below a

minimum viable population size; (6)

additional protective measures

undertaken by the States of Maine and

Rhode Island which decrease the

likelihood of occurrence or the potential

severity of an oil spill in the species’

wintering areas; (7) limited population

trend data indicating that the

population has stabilized and is not

declining; and (8) current regulatory

mechanisms which, under the

documented threats, adequately provide

for the protection and conservation of

the species.

DATES: The finding announced in this

notice was made on April 30, 1998.

Comments and information may be

submitted until further notice.

ADDRESSES: Comments and materials

regarding the petition finding may be

submitted to the Endangered Species

Coordinator, Northeast Regional Office,

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300

Westgate Center Drive, Hadley,

Massachusetts 01035. The 12-month

petition finding, supporting data, and

comments are available for public

inspection, by appointment, during

normal business hours at the above

address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Paul Nickerson at the above address or

telephone 413/253–8615.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Pursuant to section 4(b)(3)(B) of the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), for

any petition to revise the Lists of

Endangered or Threatened Wildlife and

Plants that presents substantial

scientific and commercial information,

the Service is required to make a finding

within 12 months of the date of receipt

of the petition. The finding is based 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. Such 12-

month findings are to be published

promptly in the Federal Register.

In a petition dated September 21,

1995, and received by the Service on

September 25, 1995, the Northern

Rockies Biodiversity Project and the

Biodiversity Legal Foundation requested

the Service to list the eastern North

America population of the harlequin

duck as endangered or threatened. The

petition cited numerous threats to this

taxon and its breeding and feeding

habitats, including: (1) Destruction of

riparian areas along breeding area

streams; (2) destruction of watershed

stability and stream flow regime in

breeding areas by mining, road

construction, or timber harvest; (3)

inundation or elimination of breeding

habitat by river impoundment and/or

diversion; and (4) destruction of the

larval insect food base through biting fly

control programs in the northeast. The

petition states that oil spills, chronic oil

releases, and other coastal pollution

pose a threat to the harlequin duck’s

wintering habitat. The petition also

suggests that illegal and indiscriminate

harvest is an imminent threat to the

population. The Service made an

administrative finding on August 7,

1997 (62 FR 42473), that the petition

contained substantial information

indicating that the requested action may

be warranted.

Harlequin ducks are unique waterfowl

in that they breed along fast-flowing,

turbulent rivers and streams. In eastern

North America, the species breeds along

rivers in eastern Canada including the

areas of Hudson, James, and Ungava

bays, and Labrador south to

Newfoundland. In winter, harlequin

ducks are found exclusively in marine

waters, occurring at the outer

headlands/raised shoals where they

forage in shallow water and rest, preen,

and loaf in deeper water. The majority

of harlequin ducks in eastern North

America winter in Maine, with smaller

numbers wintering south to

Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Occasionally, scattered individuals can

be found south to Virginia and North

Carolina.

Until recently, harlequin ducks in

eastern North America were thought to

be one of four separate populations. The

others are the Pacific population,

estimated at over 1 million individuals;

the Greenland population, estimated at

5000 breeding pairs; and the Iceland

population estimated at 3000–5000

breeding pairs. Recent limited data

indicate that the eastern North America

population, estimated at 1500–2000

individuals, may have some interchange

with the Greenland population.

The petitioners cited threats to the

species’ breeding and feeding habitats.

However, available information does not

substantiate that these threats currently

exist or that there is a significant

probability that they will occur. As an

example, the petition mentions that

nesting habitat could be inundated by

hydroelectric development in northern

Quebec and Labrador. While the Service

recognizes that past hydroelectric

development may have inundated

harlequin duck nesting habitat, the

petitioners did not identify any

proposed projects within the species’

known breeding range. The Service is

aware of a previously proposed

hydroelectric project, the James Bay II

Bienville in northern Quebec, which

would have impacted harlequin ducks.

Of at least 153 breeding pairs found in

the study area, 56 breeding pairs would

have been displaced by flooding and

other related alterations to the area’s

hydrology. However, the Quebec

government has abandoned this project.

The Service also found no

documentation to support that timber

harvest, mining, and construction

activities impact breeding or foraging

habitat. These impacts are identified as

‘‘potential,’’ but specific information on

where these impacts have occurred, are

occurring, or may yet occur is not

available.
25178 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 88 /Thursday, May 7, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

The potential impact of a chemical or

oil spill to wintering harlequin ducks is

dependent on several factors such as the

location, time of year, and type of

chemical. The State of Maine may

support up to 800 wintering harlequin

ducks or 50 percent of the known

eastern North America wintering

population. The State has updated its

procedures for responding to spills to

minimize environmental impacts. These

procedures were adopted following the

Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in

order to decrease the probability of such

a disaster occurring in Maine. The State

of Rhode Island adopted new

procedures following the North Cape

spill that occurred off the Rhode Island

coast in 1996. The State’s Department of

Environmental Management has

implemented procedures to manage

single-hull tankers as they enter Rhode

Island waters. Legislation is pending

that would require, by the year 2001, all

single-hull tankers to be escorted by a

tugboat through Rhode Island waters.

The Service finds that the species

continues to occur throughout its

historical range in eastern North

America. There is no evidence of range

reduction. Of the approximately 800

harlequin ducks that winter in Maine,

approximately 200 winter around Isle

au Haut. The portion of Isle au Haut

where these ducks winter is part of

Acadia National Park. Approximately

95–120 birds winter in Rhode Island off

Sachuest Point, a National Wildlife

Refuge. Federal ownership of these

areas provides some additional

protection from threats such as illegal

hunting and habitat development, to the

wintering harlequin duck population.

Since 1990, hunting for harlequin

ducks has been prohibited throughout

the species’ entire eastern North

America range. Recent analysis of

population trend data indicate that the

number of birds wintering in Maine

stopped declining between 1991 and

1992. Trends for the last 2 years show

the population gradually increasing.

The Service believes that the cessation

of legal hunting has eliminated a

significant threat to the harlequin duck

population and is likely largely

responsible for the recent increase in

numbers of wintering harlequin ducks

in Maine. The petitioners state, and the

Service acknowledges, that some illegal

harvest likely still occurs. However, the

petitioners provided no sources for their

information and no estimate on the

actual numbers of harlequin ducks

illegally taken. The Service was not able

to locate any data indicating that the

extent of this illegal harvest is

significantly impacting, or is likely to

impact, the harlequin duck population.

On the basis of the best available

scientific and commercial information,

the Service finds that listing the

harlequin duck in eastern North

America is not warranted at the present

time because the species is not currently

in danger of extinction and is not likely

to become so in the foreseeable future.

Notwithstanding this finding, the

Service through its many programs (e.g.,

Migratory Birds and the North American

Waterfowl Management Plan) intends to

continue to gather data, participate in

genetic studies and cooperate with the

States of Maine and Rhode Island and

with Canada to ensure that the species

continues to receive adequate

protection. Should new information

become available indicating that the

species faces greater threats than

currently exist, this decision will be

revisited to determine whether

protection under the Act is appropriate.

References Cited

A complete list of references used in

the preparation of the 12-month finding

is available upon request from the

Northeast Regional Office (see

ADDRESSES section).

Author

The primary author of this notice is

Diane Lynch, Northeast Regional Office

(see ADDRESSES section).

Authority

The authority for this section is the

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Dated: April 30, 1998.

Jamie Rappaport Clark,

Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 98–12171 Filed 5–6–98; 8:45 am]

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