Endangered and Threatened Species; Proposed Threatened Status and Designated Critical Habitat for Hood Canal Summer-Run Chum Salmon and Columbia River Chum Salmon

NMFS has completed a comprehensive status review of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) populations in Washington, Oregon, and California and has identified four Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) within this range. NMFS is now issuing a proposed rule to list two ESUs as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA): the Hood Canal summer-run chum salmon ESU, which spawns in tributaries to Hood Canal, Discovery Bay, and Sequim Bay, Washington and the Columbia River chum salmon ESU, which spawns in tributaries to the lower Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. NMFS has also determined that listing is not warranted for two additional chum salmon ESUs (Puget Sound/ Strait of Georgia and Pacific Coast ESUs). In both ESUs identified as threatened, only naturally spawned chum salmon are being proposed for listing. Critical habitat for each ESU is being proposed as the species' current freshwater and estuarine range and includes all waterways, substrate, and adjacent riparian zones below longstanding, naturally impassable barriers. NMFS is requesting public comments and input on the issues pertaining to this proposed rule. NMFS is also soliciting suggestions and comments on integrated local/state/Federal conservation measures that might best achieve the purposes of the ESA relative to recovering the health of chum salmon populations and the ecosystems upon which they depend. Should the proposed listings be made final, protective regulations under the ESA would be put into effect and a recovery plan would be adopted and implemented.