[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 53 (Monday, March 20, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 14735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6785]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 031495E]


Endangered Species; Permits

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

ACTION: Notice of receipt of two applications for scientific research 
permits (P497C and P45S) and receipt of an application for Modification 
4 to scientific research Permit 817 (P45K).

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    Notice is hereby given that Dr. Theodore Bjornn of the Idaho 
Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (ICFW) in Moscow, ID, in 
association with Lowell Stuehrenberg of NMFS, and Stanley Smith of the 
National Biological Service (NBS) in Cook, WA have applied in due form 
for scientific research permits (P497C and P45S respectively) and that 
Stanley Smith of NBS has applied for Modification 4 to scientific 
research Permit 817 (P45K) to take listed species as authorized by 
section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531-
1543) and the NMFS regulations governing listed fish and wildlife 
permits (50 CFR parts 217-227).
    ICFW requests an ESA section 10 permit to capture adult, 
endangered, Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 
tshawytscha) to test the efficiency of Merwin traps at six sites 
downstream of Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River under variable flow 
conditions. The Merwin traps will be used for a study, which will begin 
in 1996, to evaluate the passage of migrating adult salmon and 
steelhead around the dams and through the reservoirs on the lower 
Columbia River and the lower Snake River. The adult anadromous fish 
will be migrating to upstream natal tributaries to spawn. A separate 
ESA section 10 permit will be requested for the study. The requested 
duration of this permit is mid-April to the end of May and mid-June to 
the end of July in 1995 only.
    NBS requests an ESA section 10 scientific research permit to take 
juvenile, endangered, artificially propagated Snake River spring/summer 
chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) as part of a study designed 
to provide managers with data on the distribution, abundance, movement, 
and habitat use by the anadromous fish that migrate through Lower 
Granite Reservoir. The study will provide detailed information on the 
response of migrating smolts to environmental changes that attend 
proposed reservoir drawdown and other river regulation scenarios. 
Project objectives and sampling plans will accommodate endangered 
species recovery needs and constraints. The juvenile fish to be used 
for the study will be collected at trap sites and by using purse 
seines, tagged with radio transmitters, and monitored electronically 
for their migratory patterns as far downriver as possible. The annual 
dates of collection will be from April 1 to May 26. The requested 
duration of the permit is 4 years.
    Permit 817 authorizes NBS to take juvenile, endangered, Snake River 
fall and spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) as 
part of a study designed to assess the migration timing of juvenile 
anadromous salmon using passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and 
Panjet marks. For Modification 4, NBS requests an increase in the 
number of their annual authorized take and approval to use an 
additional sampling gear type. The increase in the annual take is 
requested to obtain a sufficient sample size to estimate the migration 
timing of fish produced in the upper Snake and Clearwater Rivers to 
Lower Monumental Dam on the lower Snake River. Similar increases in the 
authorized take for this permit were processed in 1993 and 1994. In 
addition, NBS requests approval to use modified fyke nets instead of 
beach seines to capture fish for tagging and to assess nearshore 
movements of the marked fish in the Snake and Clearwater Rivers. 
Modification 4 is requested for the duration of the permit. The permit 
expires on December 31, 1996.
    Written data or views, or requests for a public hearing on these 
applications should be submitted to the Chief, Endangered Species 
Division, Office of Protected Resources, F/PR8, NMFS, 1315 East-West 
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226, within 30 days of the 
publication of this notice. Those individuals requesting a hearing 
should set out the specific reasons why a hearing on this particular 
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.
    Documents submitted in connection with the above application are 
available for review by interested persons in the following offices by 
appointment:
    Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, NOAA, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 (301-713-1401); and
    Environmental and Technical Services Division, NMFS, NOAA, 525 
North East Oregon St., Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232 (503-230-5400).

    Dated: March 14, 1995.
Russell J. Bellmer,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-6785 Filed 3-17-95; 8:45 am]
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