Federal Agencies Consider Protection for Corals
The National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Commerce in February announced a 90-day finding period to determine if 82 species of stony coral should be placed on the endangered species list.
The action came after the Center for Biological Diversity (Tucson, Ariz.) petitioned the NMFS last October to list 83 species of corals as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The nonprofit conservation organization subsequently threatened to sue the fisheries service for failing to respond to the petition.
The Center says the named species have seen population declines of at least 30 percent in the last 30 years and are threatened with extinction, primarily by global warming and ocean acidification.
The fisheries service concluded that the petition includes enough scientific or commercial information that endangered species listing may be warranted for 82 of the 83 species.
If listed, the corals would be banned from collection in U.S. waters and banned from import into the United States. Interstate shipment also would become illegal.
The NMFS is soliciting additional information and comments regarding these species until April 12. For submission information, see the Feb. 10 Federal Register notice at www.tinyurl.com/ygdhf3s.
Of 83 coral species petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act, eight occur in the U.S. waters of the Caribbean, and 75 occur in the U.S. waters of the Indo-Pacific. The Caribbean has the largest proportion of corals classified as being at high risk, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit conservation organization headquartered in Tucson, Ariz.
The 83 species included in the Center’s petition include four species of Acanthastrea, 22 species of Acropora, three species of Euphyllia, eight species of Montipora and four species of Turbinaria. For a full list of the species, see the Feb. 10 Federal Register notice at www.tinyurl.com/ygdhf3s. [April 2010 PET AGE]
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