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X. Incidental Take Statement Section 9 and regulations implementing Section 4 of the ESA prohibit any taking (harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, collect, or attempt to engage in any such conduct) of listed species without a specific permit or exemption. When a proposed Federal action is found to be consistent with Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA and that action may incidentally take individuals of listed species, NMFS will issue an incidental take statement specifying the impact of any incidental taking of endangered or threatened species. The incidental take statement also provides reasonable and prudent measures that are necessary to minimize impacts, and sets forth terms and conditions with which the action agency must comply in order to implement the reasonable and prudent measures. Incidental takings resulting from the agency action, including incidental takings caused by activities authorized by the agency, are exempted from the taking prohibition by section 7(o) of the ESA, but only if those takings are in compliance with the specified terms and conditions. No Snake River sockeye salmon are expected to be taken as a result of the 1995 PFMC fisheries. 2. Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon Timing considerations suggest that mature spring chinook have largely exited the ocean prior to the start of fishing. Given the timing consideration, the summer component of the species are potentially susceptible to the PFMC area fishery, but the available CWT and GSI data and consideration of relative abundance suggest that impact on the population will be quite small. The number of listed spring/summer chinook salmon that may be taken in PFMC area fisheries cannot be determined, but is expected to be low. Any catch that may occur will be limited specifically by the measures proposed by PFMC to control the total catch of chinook salmon in the ocean fisheries including quotas and other time, area, gear and catch limitations measures that are implemented as part of the package of annual regulations. 3. Snake River Fall Chinook Salmon Information on the distribution of Snake River fall chinook from the CWT data indicates that they are caught in PFMC area fisheries. Because the ocean abundance is not known, the number of listed fall chinook caught incidentally in PFMC area fisheries cannot be estimated with any certainty. The anticipated catch of listed fall chinook in 1996 and beyond will vary depending on the abundance of listed fish and annual regulations that are implemented. Because of the uncertainties in estimating the actual catch of listed fish in 1996 and beyond, harvest impacts have been evaluated for purposes of consultation largely in terms of relative changes in exploitation rate. NMFS authorizes a level of take consistent with the terms specified in the Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives. 4. Sacramento River Winter-Run Chinook Salmon The proposed FMP, as modified by the reasonable and prudentalternative, is expected to result in the incidental take of winter-run chinook. However, the magnitude of the take associated with incidental ocean harvest cannot be easily quantified due to 1) an inability to distinguish winter-run chinook from the other runs in the ocean, 2) unknown ocean abundances of winter-run chinook, and 3) uncertainties in future monitoring through CWT recoveries. Therefore, NMFS estimates a level of take associated with the FMP, as modified by the reasonable and prudent alternative, in terms of reductions in the incidental ocean harvest on winter-run chinook, as described in the reasonable and prudent alternative. If takings of winter-run chinook salmon exceed the level described in the reasonable and prudent alternative, NMFS must reinitiate consultation. B. Reasonable and Prudent Measures NMFS believes that the following reasonable and prudent measures are necessary and appropriate to minimize the impact from incidental ocean harvest as proposed in the FMP on Snake River sockeye salmon, Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon, Snake River fall chinook salmon, and Sacramento River winter-run chinook salmon: 1) in-season management actions taken during the course of the fisheries shall be consistent with the harvest objectives established preseason that were subject to review for consistency in this biological opinion, and 2) incidental harvest impacts of listed salmon stocks shall be monitored using best available measures. In order to be exempt from the prohibitions of section 9 of the ESA, NMFS must comply with the following terms and conditions, which implement the reasonable and prudent measures described above. These terms and conditions are non-discretionary. 1.NMFS shall confer with the affected states and PFMC chair to ensure that in-season management actions taken during the course of the fisheries are consistent with the harvest objectives established preseason. 2.NMFS in cooperation with the affected states and PFMC chair shall monitor the catch and implementation of other management measures at levels that are comparable to those used in recent years. The monitoring is to ensure full implementation and compliance of management actions specified to control the various ocean fisheries. 3.NMFS in cooperation with the affected states and PFMC chair shall sample the fisheries for stock composition including the collection of CWTs in all fisheries and other biological information to allow for a thorough post-season analysis of fishery impacts on listed species. For Sacramento River winter-run chinook, monitoring of harvest through CWT recoveries may be possible for the 1996 and 1997 ocean salmon fishery. However, a portion of these CWT recoveries may be invalid due to the potential hybridization of winter-run chinook with spring-run chinook in the 1993 to 1995 broodyears. Beyond 1997, CWT recoveries cannot be positively relied upon to monitor harvest due to the current difficulties with the artificial propagation of winter-run chinook. 4.NMFS in cooperation with the State of California and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shall ensure that monitoring of Sacramento River winter-run chinook spawning escapement to the upper Sacramento River is continued and that the accuracy of these escapement estimates is improved. Future improvements in escapement cannot be definitively attributed to harvest reductions, but because run-sizes are expected to substantially increase, escapement estimates shall provide at least a relative indicator of harvest reductions. However, escapement estimates of winter-run chinook have a relatively low level of accuracy, which should be improved. Approximately 15% of the run is monitored at the RBDD to determine escapement estimates, and the associated variance of these counts is estimated at 1 (see Section VII.B.). New methods must be developed and implemented which improve the accuracy of these estimates, without adding any additional impacts to winter-run chinook.
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