National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration June 28, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene public meetings.

Notice is hereby given that Bruce R. Mate, Ph.D., Holder/ Principal Investigator, Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center, 2030 SE Marine Science Drive, Newport, OR 97365, and Randall S. Wells, Ph.D., Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, c/o Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236, have each been issued a permit to take marine mammals for scientific research.

NMFS reviewed the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regional marine mammal stock assessment reports (SARs) in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). SARs for marine mammals in the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regions were revised according to new information. NMFS solicits public comments on draft 2005 SARs.

NMFS announces that no trips are authorized into the Closed Area (CA) II Yellowtail Flounder Special Access Program (SAP) for the 2005 fishing year. The Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator) has determined that the available catch of Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder is insufficient to support a minimum level of fishing activity within the CA II Yellowtail Flounder SAP for the 2005 fishing year. This action is intended to help achieve optimum yield (OY) in the fishery by allowing Northeast (NE) multispecies days-at-sea (DAS) vessels to achieve, but not exceed, the GB yellowtail flounder total allowable catch (TAC) specified for the Eastern U.S./Canada Area throughout the 2005 fishing year, in accordance with the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Notice is hereby given that Dr. Kathy Carlstead, Honolulu Zoo, 151 Kapahulu Ave., Honolulu, HI 96815, has been issued a permit to import marine mammal specimens for purposes of scientific research.

We, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), are issuing final determinations to list 16 Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of West Coast salmon (chum, Oncorhynchus keta; coho, O. kisutch, sockeye, O. nerka; Chinook, O. tshawytscha; pink, O. gorbuscha) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended. We have concluded that four ESUs are endangered, and twelve ESUs are threatened, in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Fifteen of these ESUs were previously listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA, and one ESU was previously designated as a candidate species. With respect to the Oregon Coast coho ESU and ten O. mykiss ESUs, we have found that substantial disagreement regarding the sufficiency or accuracy of the relevant data precludes making final listing determinations at this time, and accordingly we are extending the deadline for making our final determinations for these 11 ESUs for an additional 6 months. The findings regarding the extension of the final listing determination for the Oregon Coast coho ESU and for the ten O. mykiss ESUs appear in the Proposed Rules section in today's Federal Register issue. The ten O. mykiss ESUs were previously listed and remain listed pending final agency action. Also in this notice, we are finalizing amendments to the ESA 4(d) protective regulations for threatened salmonid ESUs. As part of the proposed listing determinations in June 2004, we proposed changes to these protective regulations to provide the necessary flexibility to ensure that fisheries and artificial propagation programs are managed consistently with the conservation needs of ESA-listed ESUs, and to clarify the existing regulations so that they can be more efficiently and effectively interpreted and followed by all affected parties. Finally, we are soliciting biological and economic information relevant to designating critical habitat for the Lower Columbia River coho salmon ESU.

We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), announce a final policy addressing the role of artificially propagated (hatchery produced) Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, O. keta, O. kisutch, O. nerka, O. tshawytscha) and steelhead (O. mykiss) in listing determinations under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended. This final policy supersedes the Interim Policy on Artificial Propagation of Pacific Salmon under the Endangered Species Act, published in the Federal Register on April 5, 1993. The Interim Policy is being revised in light of a 2001 United States District Court ruling that NMFS improperly listed only the naturally spawning component of Oregon Coast coho salmon under the ESA, excluding hatchery stocks that the agency had determined were part of the same ``distinct population segment'' (DPS) as the listed natural populations. The Court's ruling invalidated the practice described in the Interim Policy of generally excluding hatchery stocks in a DPS from listing unless it was determined that they contained a substantial proportion of the DPS's remaining genetic diversity and were ``essential for recovery.'' Under this new policy, hatchery stocks determined to be part of a DPS will be considered in determining whether a DPS is threatened or endangered under the ESA, and will be included in any listing of the DPS. This policy applies only to Pacific salmon and steelhead and only in the context of making ESA listing determinations.