Je veux savoir à propos de…

khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 29 / Tuesday, February 16, 2021 / Notices fall and late-fall run Chinook salmon and steelhead trout passing the RBDD, and c obtain relative abundance information for green sturgeon and lamprey to monitor trends in abundance. 8 Life History Studies on the Sacramento River SDPS green sturgeonthe goal is to identify spawning habitat and larval and monitor juvenile rearing and migration movements in the Sacramento River. 9
Sacramento River Winter Chinook Salmon Carcass Surveythe carcass survey would help managers estimate the annual abundance of winter Chinook salmon spawners. Estimates of abundance would be made for both hatcheryand natural-origin fish. The research, a whole, would benefit listed fish by adding greatly to a large number of datasets that managers use to help them survive and recover.
Under the various studies, juvenile salmon would be observed via snorkel surveys and captured using backpack electrofishing, rotary screw traps, emergence traps, trammel nets, and beach seines. In addition, juvenile salmon would be handled anesthetized, weighed, measured, and checked for marks or tags, and released. A
subsample of captured those fish may be anesthetized, tissue sampled and passive integrated transponder PITtagged prior to release. A small number of juvenile CVS Chinook and CCV
steelhead 100 of each would be sacrificed for otolith sampling and analysis. Adult salmon would be observed via snorkel surveys or spawning surveys and captured using beach seines and fish weirs. Tissues would be collected from any carcasses encountered during snorkel surveys.
Juvenile green sturgeon would be captured benthic trawls, trammel or gill nets, anesthetized, tissue sampled and tagged PIT or acoustic. Larval green sturgeon would be captured using fyke nets. The same procedures described above would be performed on larvae captured with fyke nets tagging would be dependent on size. Egg Mats would be used to sample green sturgeon larvae and eggs eggs and larvae would be sacrificed. With the exception of the juvenile salmon otolith research above, the researchers are not proposing to kill any of the fish being captured, but a small number of fish may be killed as an inadvertent result of these activities.
14403R
The Interagency Ecological Program IEP is a consortium of nine state and Federal agencies that work in partnership with non-governmental organizations to provide ecological information and scientific leadership in
VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:04 Feb 12, 2021

Jkt 253001

managing the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. The IEP is seeking to renew a permit that allows them to annually take adult and juvenile SacR winter-run and CVS Chinook salmon, CV and CCC
steelhead, and SDPS green sturgeon in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Region, California. This permit renewal includes eleven projects.
The names and purposes of the 11
studies are: 1 The Adult Striped Bass Tagging Studyit is designed to quantify the population dynamics of Striped Bass Morone saxatilis in the San Francisco Estuary and thereby provide metrics to inform science-based resource management decisions. These metrics include relative and absolute abundance, harvest rate, mortality rate, individual growth rates, and large-scale movement/migration patterns. 2 The Fall Midwater Trawl Surveythe study is a fish monitoring survey that provides trends in abundance and distribution of pelagic fish in the upper San Francisco Estuary. 3 The adult Sturgeon Population Tagging Study is designed to quantify the population dynamics of white and green Sturgeon in the San Francisco Estuary and provide metrics to inform science-based resource management decisions. These metrics include relative and absolute abundance, harvest rates, mortality rates, and individual growth rates. 4
The Summer Tow-net Survey is a fish monitoring survey that provides trends in abundance and distribution of young pelagic fish in the upper San Francisco estuary. 5 The San Francisco Bay Studyits purpose is to determine the effects of freshwater outflow on the abundance and distribution of fish and mobile crustaceans in the San Francisco Estuary, primarily downstream of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. 6 The 20-mm Survey is designed to monitor post-larval and juvenile Delta Smelt distribution and relative abundance throughout their historical spring range in the upper San Francisco estuary. 7
The Yolo Bypass Fish Monitoring Program is a monitoring effort designed to help mangers understand fish and invertebrate use in the Yolo Bypass seasonal floodplain/tidal slough habitat.
8 The Zooplankton Studyits purpose is to estimate the abundance of zooplankton taxa and thereby help managers assess trends in fish food resources from the eastern San Pablo Bay area through the eastern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh. The study is also intended to detect and monitor zooplankton recently introduced to the estuary and determine their effects on native species. 9 The Spring Kodiak
PO 00000

Frm 00015

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

9491

Trawl Surveyits purpose is to determine the relative abundance and distribution of adult Delta Smelt in the San Francisco Bay area and identify the onset of spawning. 10 The Suisun Marsh Survey is designed to determine effects of the Suisun Marsh Salinity Control Gates operation as well as other anthropogenic habitat changes and monitor presence and abundance for juvenile striped bass, Chinook salmon, and other species of concern. 11 The Smelt Larva Survey is intended to provide near real-time distribution data for Longfin Smelt larvae in the upper San Francisco Estuary. The data generated from this study would be used to help improve the effectiveness of water operations, aquatic habitat restoration, and fish management practices. The research, as a whole, would benefit fish by adding greatly to the knowledge base that state, private, and Federal managers depend on to help them make decisions about the best ways in which resources can be allocated to help listed species recover.
Under the various projects juvenile salmon would be captured via fyke nets, gill nets, midwater trawls, trammel nets, hoop nets, otter trawls, larval fish nets, zooplankton nets, Kodiak trawl nets, rotatory screw traps, and beach seine, handled, and released. A small subset of the juvenile fish would be captured, anesthetized, measured, weighed, tagged, tissue sampled, and released. Adult salmon would be captured via fyke nets, midwater trawls, trammel nets, hoop nets, otter trawls, Kodiak trawl nets, and beach seines, handled, and released. A small subset of adult salmon would be captured, anesthetized, measured, weighed, tagged, tissue sampled and released. Under three of the projects Studies 5, 7, and 9 some adiposeclipped, artificially propagated juvenile springand winter-run Chinook salmon would intentionally be sacrificed to collect coded wire tags the data from which would be used for management purposes. In addition, adult green sturgeon would be captured fyke net, trammel net, midwater trawl, otter trawl, handled, and released. A subset of juvenile and adult greens sturgeon would be captured, anesthetized, measured, weighed, tagged, tissue sampled, and released. With the exception of the directed mortality of adipose-clipped juvenile salmon above, the researchers are not proposing to kill any of the fish being captured, but a small number of juveniles may be killed as an inadvertent result of these activities.

E:FRFM16FEN1.SGM

16FEN1