EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

floodplain connectivity. The final rule (70 FR 52630) lists the watersheds that comprise the
designated subbasins and any areas that are specifically excluded from the designation.
There are 38 watersheds within the range of Upper Willamette River steelhead. The total area of
habitat designated as critical includes about 1,250 miles of stream habitat. This designation
includes the stream channels within the designated stream reaches, and includes a lateral extent
as defined by the ordinary high water line. In areas where the ordinary high-water line is not
defined the lateral extent is defined as the bankfull elevation. Of the 38 watersheds reviewed in
NMFS' assessment of critical habitat for Upper Willamette River steelhead, 17 watersheds
received a low rating of conservation value, six received a medium rating, and 15 received a high
rating of conservation value for the species. In addition, the lower Willamette/Columbia River
rearing/migration corridor downstream of the spawning range was rated as a high conservation
value.
Final Protective Regulations
On June 28, 2005, as part of the final listing determinations for 16 ESUs of West Coast salmon,
NMFS amended and streamlined the 4(d) protective regulations for threatened salmon and
steelhead (70 FR 37160) as described in the Protective Regulations for Threatened Salmonid
Species section of this document. Under this change, the section 4(d) protections apply to
natural and hatchery fish with an intact adipose fin, but not to listed hatchery fish that have had
their adipose fin removed prior to release into the wild. The amended June 2005 4(d) rule
applies to the Upper Willamette River steelhead DPS.
Atlantic Salmon
Gulf of Maine Atlantic salmon
Description and distribution of the species
Gulf of Maine (GOM) DPS Atlantic salmon occur along the Atlantic coast from the
Androscoggin River (Maine) in the south to the St. Croix River on the US-Canadian border. The
lower Penobscot River has three primary tributaries that contain Atlantic salmon: Cove Brook,
Kenduskeag Stream, Kennebec and Ducktrap rivers. The estimated population of Atlantic
salmon in the lower Penobscot River and its tributaries is less than 20 adult Atlantic salmon.
Atlantic salmon are also listed in the Dennys River, East Machias River, Machias River, Pleasant
River, Narraguagus River, and Sheepscot River.
Habitat
The salmon’s preferred spawning habitat is coarse gravel or rubble substrate (up to 3.5 inches in
diameter) with adequate water circulation to keep the buried eggs well oxygenated (Peterson
1978). Water depth at spawning sites is typically between one and 2 feet deep, and water
velocity averages 2 feet per second (Beland 1984). Spawning sites, or redds, average 8 feet long
and 4.5 feet wide and are often located at the downstream end of riffles where water percolates
through the gravel or where upwellings of groundwater occur (Moir et al. 1998). The annual egg
production is approximately 240 eggs per 1,075 feet 2 of fluvial habitat (Chaput et al. 1998).
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