SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Endangered Species Act (ESA)-Listed Species Covered in This Notice

• Hood Canal-Strait of Juan de Fuca summer chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta): threatened, naturally and artificially propagated;
• Puget Sound Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha): threatened, naturally and artificially propagated;
• Puget Sound Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss): threatened, naturally and artificially propagated.

Background

The term “take” is defined under the ESA to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. The ESA prohibits the take of endangered salmonids and, pursuant to ESA section 4(d), ESA regulations can be extended to prohibit the take of threatened salmonids. However, NMFS may make exceptions to the take prohibitions for hatchery programs that are approved by NMFS under the limits on the prohibitions outlined in 50 CFR 223.203(b). The operators, WDFW collaborating with tribal co-manager Skokomish Indian Tribe, have submitted an HGMP to NMFS pursuant to NMFS' Limit 6 of the 4(d) Rule of the ESA for hatchery activities in the Skokomish River basin, Washington. The PEPD is NMFS' initial determination for how the HGMP addresses the criteria in 50 CFR 223.203(b)(5).

The hatchery program under review is designed to contribute to the reintroduction and recovery of Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon and steelhead in the Skokomish River basin. These fish contribute to the stability of Pacific salmon fish stocks in order to maintain sustainable U.S. fisheries and strengthen the national seafood supply chain. The hatchery programs are intended to contribute to fulfilling federal trust responsibilities toward Tribes with rights guaranteed through treaties, as affirmed in United States v. Washington (1974), by contributing to the recovery of ESA-listed salmon. Additionally, the programs are intended to contribute to the survival and recovery of Puget Sound Chinook Salmon and Puget Sound Steelhead, provide information on exploitation rates, and support returns of coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and sockeye salmon to the Skokomish River basin.

Classification

Under section 4 of the ESA, the Secretary of Commerce is required to ( printed page 18831) adopt such regulations as deemed necessary and advisable for the conservation of species listed as threatened. The ESA salmon and steelhead 4(d) rule regulations (50 CFR 223.203(b)) specifies categories of activities that contribute to the conservation of listed salmonids and sets out the criteria for such activities. The rule further provides that the prohibitions of paragraph (a) of the regulations do not apply to actions undertaken in compliance with a plan developed jointly by a state and a tribe and determined by NMFS to be in accordance with the salmon and steelhead 4(d) rule (65 FR 42422, July 10, 2000).

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.;16 U.S.C. 742a et seq.

91 FR 18830