[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 100 (Friday, May 23, 1997)] [Proposed Rules] [Pages 28413-28415] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 97-13697] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Parts 227 and 425 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Parts 17 and 425 Endangered and Threatened Species; Reopening of Comment Period on Proposed Threatened Status for a Distinct Population Segment of Anadromous Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) in Seven Rivers AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce; and Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
Action
Reopening of public comment period.
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Summary
The State of Maine formally submitted the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Plan (Plan) to the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (collectively the Services) on March 5, 1997, in response to the Services' proposal to list Atlantic salmon in seven Maine rivers as threatened (60 FR 50530, September 29, 1995). The Services have determined that the Plan is significant new information relating to the proposed rule that merits review and consideration under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Services also note that information and data collected since the publication of the proposed rule is also available for review and has become part of the record for the Services' evaluation of the proposed listing. This information includes adult returns, redd counts, fry stocking, habitat assessments, commercial fishing agreements and management measures, and marine habitat assessment. Stocking, return and habitat data are provided in the Annual Report of the U.S. Atlantic Salmon Assessment Committee which is prepared annually for the U.S. Section to North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization. The annual field activity report prepared by the Maine Atlantic Salmon Authority and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also documents management activities for the seven river populations. In order to ensure that the public has an opportunity to comment on all phases of this proposed listing, the Services are making the Plan available for review at selected locations throughout New England and the Washington DC area
(see ADDRESSES) and can provide guidance on the availability of other information. Because of the size of the Plan, the Services cannot send copies upon request. However, the Services will provide the Executive Summary of the Plan upon request. The Plan is also available for review on-line and the address is provided below.
Dates
The public comment period is reopened for 30 days. All comments should be received on or before June 23, 1997.
Addresses
Please send any written comments to Mary Colligan, National Marine Fisheries Service, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930-2298, or Paul Nickerson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, Massachusetts 01035. Individuals are also encouraged to send a copy of their comments to the State of Maine at the following address: Henry Nichols, Maine Atlantic Salmon Task Force, Land Use Regulatory Commission, 22 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0022. As stated previously, the Plan is available on-line at the following address: www.state.me.us/governor. Complete copies of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Plan are available for review at the following locations: 1. University of Maine--Machias, Merrill Library, c/o Jean Clemons, O'Brien Avenue, Machias, Maine 04654. 2. Ellsworth Public Library, c/o Patricia Foster, Director, 46 State Street, Ellsworth, Maine 04605. 3. Bangor Public Library, c/o Sue Wennrick, 145 Harlow Street, Bangor, Maine 04401. 4. Calais Public Library, c/o Marilyn Diffin, Librarian, 1 Union Street, Calais, Maine 04619. 5. Portland Public Library, Portland Room, c/o Tom Gaffney, 5 Monument Square, Portland, Maine 04101. 6. Maine State Library, c/o J. Gary Nichols, Librarian, 64 State House Station, Augusta Complex, Augusta, Maine 04333-0064. 7. Pleasant River Hatchery, c/o Dwayne Shaw, Manager, Columbia Falls, Maine 04623. 8. Maine Atlantic Salmon Authority, 650 State Street, Bangor, Maine 04401. 9. Camden Public Library, c/o Elizabeth Moran, Director, 55 Main Street, Camden, Maine 04843. 10. Wiscasset Public Library, c/o Janet Morgan, High Street, Wiscasset, Maine 04578. 11. Lincolnville Central School Library, c/o Suzanne Martell, Route 235, Lincolnville, Maine 04849. 12. National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Regional Office, Habitat and Protected Resources Division, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930. 13. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, Massachusetts 01035. 14. Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery, East Orland, Maine 04431. 15. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1033 South Main Street, Old Town, Maine 04468. 16. National Marine Fisheries Services, Office of Protected Resources, 1315 East West Highway, Room 13139, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 17. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Endangered Species, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 452, Arlington, Virginia 22203.
www.state.me.us/governorFor Further Information Contact
Mary Colligan at (508) 281-9116 or Paul Nickerson at (413) 253-8615.
Supplementary Information
Background
On September 29, 1995, the Services published a proposal to list a distinct population segment, or species, of Atlantic salmon in the Sheepscot, Ducktrap, Narraguagus, Pleasant, Machias, East Machias, and Dennys Rivers in Maine as threatened. That proposed designation contained a special 4(d) provision that invited the State of Maine to develop a conservation plan for the species. The special 4(d) rule, as proposed in the September notice (60 FR 50530, September 29, 1995) would allow for a state plan, approved by the Services, to define the manner in which certain activities could be conducted without violating the ESA. Federal furloughs and legislative and funding restrictions prevented the Services from immediately holding public hearings on the proposed action. On August 27, 1996, the Services reopened the comment period and announced three public hearings which were held in Maine on September 17, 18 and 19. The Services received additional verbal and written comments during that comment period which, together with all information submitted by the public, are being reviewed by the Services in making their final determination whether to list the distinct population segment of Atlantic salmon as threatened. Partly in response to the special 4(d) provision in the proposed rule, the Governor of Maine issued an Executive Order creating a task force to draft the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Plan. Biologists from the Services were not members of the task force but did review the draft Conservation Plan and provide comments. The task force and its four subgroups have worked on the Plan since October 1995. The four subgroups addressed the potential threats identified in the Status Review for Anadromous Atlantic Salmon and the proposed rule. Each of the subgroups (agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and recreational fishing) examined its industry or activity to identify potential impacts to Atlantic salmon and recommended actions to avoid, minimize and mitigate such impacts. In the fall of 1996, the State held public hearings on the executive summary of the Plan. Comments received during that time were considered by the State in its final drafting of the Plan. The Plan is a State action plan to provide for the protection and conservation of Atlantic salmon and their habitat within the watersheds of the seven Maine rivers identified by the Services in the proposed rule. Following closure of this comment period, the Services will make a final determination as to whether listing is warranted, and, if so, whether the Plan meets the criteria for a special 4(d) rule that could be promulgated in combination with a final rule designating the distinct population segment of Atlantic salmon as threatened under the ESA. The Services request comments from the public specifically addressing the Plan's effectiveness in meeting the criteria for acceptance as a special 4(d) rule identified above and contained in Section 10(a)(2)(B), 50 CFR 17.32(b)(2) and 50 CFR 222.22(c)(2). In addition, the Services have been requested by the Governor of Maine to determine that the Plan sufficiently addresses the existing threats to Atlantic salmon such that its addition to the list of threatened species is not warranted. The Services make determinations whether a species is endangered or threatened based on their analysis of the effect of the factors contained in section 4 of the ESA on the species and after taking into account those efforts being made to protect such species. The State-prepared plan is designed to address those factors in order to prevent further decline. If, in their final determination, the Services conclude under all of the required provisions of section 4 of the ESA that the species is not likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future, and therefore is not ``threatened'' as defined in the ESA, then they will make a finding that listing is not warranted. This conclusion, while including an evaluation of the State's conservation plan, must also include an evaluation of the best scientific and
commercial data available, i.e. species abundance, new data received during the comment period, re-evaluation of existing data, and other federal and/or international efforts being taken to protect the species. To assist in their analysis of the species status, the Services request any comments, which have not already been submitted, which provide new information or data and/or reflect on the new information and data that has become available since the publication of the proposed rule, including the state Plan. Written comments may be submitted on or before June 23, 1997 to either of the offices in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. Individuals are also requested to send a copy of their comments to the State of Maine. Author: The primary authors of this notice are Mary Colligan and Paul Nickerson (addresses are above).
Authority: The authority for this section is the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544).
Dated: May 15, 1997. Patricia A. Montanio, Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Dated: May 16, 1997. Cathy Short, Deputy Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [FR Doc. 97-13697 Filed 5-22-97; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-08-M