44696 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB326] 

Endangered and Threatened Species; 

Take of Anadromous Fish 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of receipt of one 

enhancement permit application and 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

NMFS has received one permit 

application submitted by California 

Department of Fish and Wildlife 

(CDFW) to enhance the propagation and 

survival of species listed under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, 

as amended, for a 5-year period. This 

document serves to notify the public of 

the availability of the permit application 

for review and comment, prior to a 

decision by NMFS whether to issue the 

permit. 

DATES: Comments or requests for a 

public hearing on the application must 

be received at the appropriate address 

(see ADDRESSES) no later than 5 p.m. 

Pacific standard time on September 13, 

2021. 

ADDRESSES: The permit application may 

be viewed online at: https://

apps.nmfs.noaa.gov/preview/preview_

open_for_comment.cfm. Written 

comments on the application should be 

submitted to the NMFS California 

Central Valley Office, 650 Capitol Mall, 

Suite 5–100, Sacramento, CA 95814. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

email to amanda.cranford@noaa.gov 

(include the permit number in the 

subject line of the email). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amanda Cranford, Sacramento, CA 

(Phone: 916–930–3706; Email: 

amanda.cranford@noaa.gov). Permit 

application instructions are available 

from the address above, or online at 

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

ESA-Listed Species Covered in This 

Notice 

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 

tshawytscha): Threatened, naturally 

produced and hatchery propagated 

Sacramento River winter-run; 

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 

tshawytscha): Threatened, naturally 

produced and hatchery-propagated 

Central Valley (CV) spring-run; 

Steelhead (O. mykiss): Threatened, 

naturally produced and artificially 

propagated California Central Valley 

(CCV). 

North American green sturgeon 

(Acipenser medirostris): Threatened, 

naturally produced southern distinct 

population segment (sDPS). 

Background 

Permit 18181–4R 

CDFW is seeking to renew an 

enhancement permit under section 

10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA for a period of 5 

years that would allow take of both 

adult and juvenile Sacramento River 

winter-run Chinook salmon, CV springrun Chinook salmon, CCV steelhead, 

and sDPS North American green 

sturgeon in the Sacramento River and its 

tributaries. This permit renewal would 

cover four monitoring and rescue efforts 

carried out by CDFW: (1) Juvenile 

emigration monitoring, (2) adult 

trapping for the Steelhead Monitoring 

Program, (3) Upper Sacramento River 

restoration site monitoring, and (4) fish 

salvage and rescue operations. 

Each project has its own objectives. 

The Juvenile Emigration Monitoring 

will take place at Tisdale Weir, Knights 

Landing, the Feather River High Flow 

Channel, and the Delta Entry sites, with 

the goals to monitor juvenile salmonid 

outmigration in real time, provide 

summaries of timing, abundance, and 

size distribution, provide timing 

information to water agencies for better 

management decisions, and evaluate 

how environmental conditions (flow, 

temperature, turbidity) affect 

downstream movement. The objectives 

of the Central Valley Steelhead 

Monitoring will be conducted to 

estimate the steelhead population 

abundance, examine trends in 

abundance, and identify spatial 

distribution over time. The Upper 

Sacramento River Restoration Site 

Monitoring aims to evaluate the 

outcome of the Central Valley Project 

Improvement Act Section 3406(b)(13) 

gravel augmentation and restoration 

projects through documentation of 

spawning activity, relative abundance of 

juvenile salmonids using the restored 

habitat, habitat attributes and quantities 

in restored sites, and habitat conditions 

and fish presence in control and preand post-construction sites. Efforts 

associated with the Central Valley Fish 

Rescues will involve the collection, 

tagging, and relocation of entrained 

listed salmonids and sDPS green 

sturgeon at the fish collection facility at 

Wallace Weir, the Colusa Basin 

Drainage Canal, behind Fremont and 

Tisdale weirs, the Sacramento River, 

Deer Creek, Mill Creek, Antelope Creek, 

and various urban streams. The rescue 

program also assesses the magnitude of 

stranding and aims to document 

conditions resulting in high levels of 

stranding. CDFW staff will also monitor 

winter-run Chinook salmon redds that 

are at risk of being dewatered. In the 

event that a redd is likely to be 

dewatered, CDFW staff may physically 

modify the redd by hand to prevent 

complete dewatering and increase the 

likelihood of survival. 

Under the various studies, juvenile 

salmonids and smolts would be 

observed via snorkel and video surveys 

and captured using rotary screw traps 

and beach seines. In addition, juvenile 

salmonids would be handled: 

Anesthetized, measured, checked for 

marks or tags, tagged (acoustic tags for 

spring-run Chinook salmon, passive 

integrated transponder (PIT) tags for 

steelhead, and elastomer tags for 

salmonids used during rotary screw trap 

efficiency trials), sampled for tissues, 

and released. A subsample of hatcheryorigin (adipose fin clipped) winter-run 

Chinook salmon and spring-run 

Chinook salmon juveniles and smolts 

would be sacrificed for coded wire tag 

(CWT) retrieval and analysis. In the case 

of rescues and relocations, fish may be 

collected and transported (either via 

foot or transport truck, depending on 

the distance to the release location) to 

more suitable habitat prior to release. 

Adult salmonids would be observed 

via snorkel, video, or spawning surveys 

and captured using beach seines, fish 

weirs, and fyke traps. Adult steelhead 

may also be captured in rotary screw 

traps. In addition, adult salmonids 

would be handled as follows: 

anesthetized, measured, checked for 

marks or tags, tagged (floy tags for all 

adult salmonids, as well as PIT tags for 

steelhead, and acoustic tags for both 

spring- and winter-run Chinook 

salmon), sampled for tissues, and 

released. Tissues would be collected 

from any carcasses encountered. 

Juvenile, subadult, and adult green 

sturgeon would be captured via hoop 

nets and fyke traps, anesthetized, tissue 

sampled, tagged (PIT or acoustic), and 

released. Additionally, juvenile green 

sturgeon may be captured in rotary 

screw traps and adults may be 

encountered during monitoring at weirs. 

Subadult and adult green sturgeon 

would also receive floy tags. Adult 

sturgeon may also be collected and 

transported live to more suitable habitat 

during rescue activities. 

With the exception of the juvenile 

salmon CWT retrieval (above), the 

researchers are not proposing to kill any 

of the fish being captured, but a small 

number of fish may be incidentally 

killed as an inadvertent result of these 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Notices 44697 

activities. However, fish captured and 

relocated as part of the fish rescues 

would likely perish due to low flows 

and dissolved oxygen, coupled with 

high water temperatures, if it were not 

for this project. 

The proposed projects could impact 

ESA-listed species by delaying 

migration, resulting in stress, or indirect 

mortality or indirect non-lethal effects 

as a result of stress, physical harm 

during insertion of tags, and/or 

susceptibility to predation upon 

displacement at release. These effects 

will be minimized by frequent (at least 

daily) trap checks and taking all 

possible measures to expedite the 

process of capturing, tagging, and 

releasing adult entrained fish. 

Anesthetization will follow strict 

guidelines and use the least amount of 

sedative necessary. Unintentional 

mortality of juvenile fish can occur 

during rotary screw trapping and will be 

minimized through a reduction in 

sampling effort or through increased 

checking/servicing of rotary-screw traps. 

Authority 

Enhancement 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 part 222). 

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; (3) are consistent with the 

purposes and policies of section 2 of the 

ESA; (4) further a bona fide and 

necessary or desirable scientific purpose 

or enhance the propagation or survival 

of the endangered species, taking into 

account the benefits anticipated to be 

derived on behalf of the endangered 

species; and additional issuance criteria 

as listed at 50 CFR 222.308(c)(5–12). 

The authority to take listed species is 

subject to conditions set forth in the 

permit. 

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. 

Public Comments Solicited 

NMFS invites the public to comment 

on the section 10(a)(1)(A) enhancement 

permit application during a 30-day 

public comment period beginning on 

the date of this notice. This notice is 

provided pursuant to section 10(c) of 

the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1529(c)). All 

comments and materials received, 

including names and addresses, will 

become part of the administrative record 

and may be released to the public. We 

provide this notice in order to allow the 

public, agencies, or other organizations 

to review and comment on these 

documents. 

Next Steps 

NMFS will evaluate the permit 

application, associated documents, and 

comments submitted to determine 

whether the applications meet the 

requirements of section 10(a)(1)(A) of 

the ESA and the applicable Federal 

regulations. The final permit decisions 

will not be made until after the end of 

the 30-day public comment period and 

after NMFS has fully considered all 

relevant comments received. NMFS will 

publish notice of its final action in the 

Federal Register. 

Dated: August 10, 2021. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17401 Filed 8–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB323] 

Pacific Fishery Management Council; 

Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Pacific Council) 

Ecosystem Subcommittee of the 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC) will hold an online meeting to 

review new analyses conducted by the 

NMFS California Current Integrated 

Ecosystem Assessment team that may 

potentially inform future annual reports 

to the Pacific Council on the state of the 

California Current Ecosystem. 

DATES: The online meeting will be held 

Tuesday, August 31, 2021, from 1 p.m. 

to 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). 

The online meeting will reconvene on 

Wednesday, September 1, 2021, from 

8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PDT. 

ADDRESSES: This meeting will be held 

online. Specific meeting information, 

including directions on how to join the 

meeting and system requirements will 

be provided in the meeting 

announcement on the Pacific Council’s 

website (see www.pcouncil.org). You 

may send an email to Mr. Kris 

Kleinschmidt (kris.kleinschmidt@

noaa.gov) or contact him at (503) 820– 

2412 for technical assistance. 

Council address: Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, 7700 NE 

Ambassador Place, Suite 101, Portland, 

OR 97220–1384. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

DeVore, Staff Officer, Pacific Council; 

telephone: (503) 820–2413. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SSC’s 

Ecosystem Subcommittee will review 

analyses conducted by the NMFS 

California Current Integrated Ecosystem 

Assessment team. Specifically, the SSC 

Ecosystem Subcommittee will review 

the following four items: (1) Threshold 

Relationships Between Environmental 

Drivers and Performance of Salmon 

Preseason Abundance Forecasts, (2) 

Krill-based Indicators, (3) Year Class 

Strength and Distribution of Small 

Groundfish, and (4) Port-level Linkages 

Between Fisheries using Network 

Analysis. The SSC’s Ecosystem 

Subcommittee will consider 

recommending summaries of these 

ecosystem indicators be included in 

future state of the California Current 

Ecosystem reports to the Pacific 

Council. 

No management actions will be 

decided by the SSC’s Ecosystem 

Subcommittee. The SSC Ecosystem 

Subcommittee members’ role will be 

development of recommendations and a 

report for consideration by the SSC and 

Pacific Council at their March 2022 

meeting in San Jose, CA. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in the meeting agenda may be 

discussed, those issues may not be the 

subject of formal action during this 

meeting. Action will be restricted to 

those issues specifically listed in this 

document and any issues arising after 

publication of this document that 

require emergency action under section 

305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

provided the public has been notified of 

the intent to take final action to address 

the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Mr. Kris 

Kleinschmidt (kris.kleinschmidt@

noaa.gov; (503) 820–2412) at least 10 

days prior to the meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 


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