[Federal Register: September 14, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 178)]
[Notices]
[Page 52575-52576]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14se07-55]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Proposed Low Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for Washington
Department of Natural Resources' Commercial Geoduck Fishery
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of application.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), advise the public
that the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) has applied
for an incidental take permit (ITP), pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The requested 50-
year permit would authorize the incidental take of covered species
associated with WDNR's management of the State's Commercial Geoduck
Fishery. We are requesting comments on the permit application and on
whether the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) qualifies as a
``low-effect'' HCP, eligible for a categorical exclusion under the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended. We
explain the basis for this possible determination in a draft
environmental action statement (EAS), which is also available for
public review.
DATES: Written comments must be received by 5 p.m. on October 15, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Address comments to Ken Berg, Manager, Western Washington
Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 510 Desmond
Drive SE., Suite 102, Lacey, WA 98503. You may also send comments by
facsimile to (206) 753-9405 or by electronic mail to
geoduckhcp@fws.gov. For further information and instruction on the
reviewing and commenting process, see Public Availability of Comments
section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jo Ellen Henry, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (see ADDRESSES), or telephone
(360) 753-7766.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
If you would like copies of the application, proposed HCP, or EAS,
contact us by telephone (see FOR
[[Page 52576]]
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) or by letter (see ADDRESSES). Copies of
the subject documents also are available for public inspection during
regular business hours at the Western Washington Fish and Wildlife
Office (see ADDRESSES) and the Western Washington Fish & Wildlife
Service internet site: http://www.fws.gov/westwafwo/consplan/docs.html.
Background
Section 9 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and Federal
regulations prohibit the ``take'' of a fish or wildlife species listed
as endangered or threatened. Take of federally listed fish and wildlife
is defined under section 3 of the Act as including to ``harass, harm,
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect, or to
attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16 U.S.C. 1538). We may, under
limited circumstances, issue permits to authorize ``incidental take''
of listed species. ``Incidental take'' is defined by the Act as take
that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an
otherwise lawful activity. Regulations governing permits for threatened
species and endangered species, respectively, are at 50 CFR 17.32 and
50 CFR 17.22. The applicant is seeking a permit for the incidental take
of species that are listed as either threatened or endangered under the
Act, and certain species should they become listed during the 50-year
term of the permit. The species under consideration for coverage
include bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), California brown pelican
(Pelecanus occidentalis), marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus),
tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata), bull trout (Salvelinus
confluentus), and coastal cutthroat trout (O. clarki clarki).
Proposed covered activities under the HCP include the subtidal
harvest of wild stock geoduck clams (Panopea abrupta) on State-owned
aquatic lands for commercial, research and health sampling purposes.
The majority of subtidal lands in the State, and the resources
embedded in them, are owned by Washington State and managed by the
WDNR. The geoduck clam is among the most commercially valuable of these
resources.
The wild geoduck fishery in the state is jointly managed by WDNR,
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and the Puget Sound
Treaty Indian Tribes (tribes). The State and the tribes each have a
right to 50 percent of the allowable geoduck catch. The State and the
tribes are jointly responsible for estimating geoduck population size,
determining sustainable yield, and protecting the health of the geoduck
stock and the habitat they depend upon. WDNR offers the State's half of
the geoduck harvest at auctions for the right of private companies and
individuals to harvest specific quantities of geoducks in specific
areas. As the State's managers of the geoduck resource, WDNR and WDFW
enforce civil and criminal Washington State laws, regulations and
contract conditions that apply to the State's fishery.
Washington's commercial geoduck fishery is divided into six geoduck
management regions. Commercial harvest occurs within one management
region at a time, and usually on one tract at a time. There are
currently 400 commercial geoduck tracts comprising approximately 30,000
acres of subtidal bedlands. Ten to 14 harvest quotas are offered at
each WDNR geoduck harvest auction, resulting in 30 to 40 individual
harvest agreements annually. Typically, one or two tracts are open for
harvest at any given time. The tract boundaries are defined by a water
depth of -18 feet mean lower low water (MLLW) to the outer edge of the
harvest area (depth of -70 feet MLLW). Most of the subtidal tracts
range in size from 18 acres to 459 acres. A small number of tracts are
larger. Harvest limits are based on the annual harvest level (Total
Allowable Catch (TAC)). The TAC for a management region is the total
weight of geoduck that may be harvested during the year in each
management region. The number is calculated annually and is the product
of the regional commercial biomass estimate multiplied by the
equilibrium harvest rate.
The proposed minimization and mitigation measures include, but are
not limited to: Limiting the number of acres open to harvest in each
management region per year; permitting harvest only from tracts
designated through contract by WDNR; clearly marking tracts with easily
identifiable stakes and/or buoys, and recording latitude and longitude
positions on all markers; limiting surface noise levels; applying
harvest boundaries and buffers to protect eelgrass beds, forage fish
spawning areas and other sensitive nearshore habitats and providing
direct oversight of the fishery by maintaining compliance staff aboard
vessels on harvest tracts each day that commercial geoduck harvest
occurs.
Approval of the HCP may qualify for a categorical exclusion under
NEPA, as provided by the Departmental Manual (516 DM2 Appendix 1 and
516 DM 6 Appendix 1), and as a ``low-effect'' plan as defined by the
Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook (Service, November 1996). We
determine whether an HCP is low effect based upon whether the HCP has
minor or negligible effects on federally listed, proposed, or candidate
species and their habitats; minor or negligible effects on other
environmental values or resources; and impacts that together with the
impacts of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable similarly
situated projects would, not result, over time, in cumulative effects
to the environmental values or resources which would be considered
significant. If we find the HCP to qualify as a low-effect HCP, further
NEPA documentation would not be required.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so. If we determine that the requirements are met, we will
issue an incidental take permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act to
the applicant for take of the proposed covered species, incidental to
otherwise lawful activities in accordance with the terms of the permit.
We will not make our final decision until after the end of the 30-day
comment period and will fully consider all comments received during the
comment period.
We provide this notice under section 10(c) of the Act and NEPA
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: September 7, 2007.
Ken S. Berg,
Manager, Western Washington Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Lacey, Washington.
[FR Doc. E7-18128 Filed 9-13-07; 8:45 am]
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