Endangered and Threatened Species; Final Rule Governing Take of Four Threatened Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of West Coast Salmonids

Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) shall issue such regulations as he deems necessary and advisable for the conservation of species listed as threatened. NMFS now issues a final ESA 4(d) rule adopting regulations necessary and advisable to conserve four salmonid ESUs listed as threatened species. This final rule applies the take prohibitions enumerated in section 9(a)(1) of the ESA in most circumstances to three salmonid ESUs in California: California Central Valley Chinook, California Coastal Chinook, and Northern California steelhead. For these three ESUs, NMFS does not find it necessary and advisable to apply the take prohibitions described in the ESA to certain specified categories of activities that contribute to conserving these ESUs or are governed by a program that adequately limits impacts on these ESUs. Therefore, this final rule also includes 10 such limits on the application of the section 9(a)(1) take prohibitions for these three ESUs. This final rule also modifies an existing ESA 4(d) rule, which applies the take prohibitions to the threatened Central California Coast coho ESU, by incorporating the same 10 limits on the application of the take prohibitions as described for the chinook and steelhead ESUs.