[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 88 (Thursday, May 7, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 25177-25178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12171]



[[Page 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.

[[Page 25178]]

    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]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P