Feds Warned They'll be Sued for Failure to Protect Imperiled Marine Species

Fisheries Service Long Overdue on Legally Required Endangered Species Act Determinations

Washington, DC—Today WildEarth Guardians warned the National Marine Fisheries Service (Fisheries Service) that it must meet its obligations to move forward on Endangered Species Act (ESA) determinations for six marine species or face legal action.

“It’s the Fisheries Service’s job to protect imperiled species, but the agency is failing to safeguard at-risk species in a timely manner,” said Taylor Jones, endangered species advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “Rare species such as the Caribbean electric ray and the porbeagle shark continue to decline while the Fisheries Service drags its feet.”

The Fisheries Service is overdue on making 12-month ESA listing decisions on whether five marine species—the Caribbean electric ray, porbeagle shark, Hector’s dolphin, common guitarfish, and blackchin guitarfish—are warranted, not warranted, or “warranted but precluded” by other priorities for protections under the ESA, and to publish a final listing rule for the Nassau grouper, which was proposed for listing as “threatened” in September, 2014. These determinations are legally required under the ESA in response to petitions submitted by WildEarth Guardians.

Guardians petitioned for the Caribbean electric ray, porbeagle shark, and Nassau grouper in 2010, and submitted a petition to list 81 marine species and subpopulations—including Hector’s dolphin, common guitarfish, and blackchin guitarfish—in July of 2013 due to the significant threats to our oceans. Each of the species received initial 90-day positive findings.

“Protecting our oceans is a race against time,” continued Jones. “Recent findings that 93 percent of the Great Barrier Reef is suffering from bleaching underscore the urgency of taking action now to protect our oceans.”

An estimated 50-80 percent of all life on earth is found in the oceans. More than half of marine species may be at risk of extinction by 2100 without significant conservation efforts. Despite this grave situation, the U.S. largely fails to protect marine species under the ESA. Of the 2,258 species protected under the Act, only 139 (~6 percent) are marine species. Recognizing the decline of ocean health, on July 22, 2010 President Obama issued an Executive Order requiring agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, to “protect, maintain, and restore the health and biological diversity of ocean... ecosystems,” and to “use the best available science and knowledge to inform decisions affecting the ocean.” Guardians’ multi-species marine petition seeks to compel the Fisheries Service to live up to this mandate.

Protection under the ESA is an effective safety net for imperiled species: more than 99 percent of plants and animals protected by the law exist today. The law is especially important as a defense against the current extinction crisis; species are disappearing at a rate much higher than the natural rate of extinction due to human activities. Scientists estimate that 227 species would have gone extinct by 2006 if not for ESA protections. Listing species with global distributions can both protect the species domestically, and help focus U.S. resources toward enforcement of international regulation and recovery of the species.

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Caribbean electric ray (Narcine bancroftii). True to its name, the Caribbean electric ray produces 14 to 37 volts of electricity: not enough to harm a human, but enough to stun prey or shock predators. Populations have declined by up to 98 percent in the Northern Gulf of Mexico since 1972. These small, slow-swimming rays are caught accidentally in fisheries targeting other species, primarily shrimp.

Porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus). The Northwest Atlantic population of porbeagle sharks declined 90 percent since 1961 due to heavy fishing pressure. Shark meat is highly valued and they are also fished for their fins, hides, and livers. In September 2014, the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) listed porbeagle sharks under Appendix II, which puts increased restrictions on international trade in exploited species.

Hector’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori). Hector’s dolphin is endemic to New Zealand, with the second most limited range of any cetacean. These rare dolphins are found in shallow coastal waters, almost always within eight miles of shore and at depths of fewer than 300 feet. Accidental entanglement in fishing nets and gear is the most serious threat to the dolphins. Boat strikes, disease and pollution may also contribute to the extinction risk of this small population, which numbers about 7,400.

Common guitarfish (Rhinobatos rhinobatos). This species is found in the Atlantic from the southern Bay of Biscay southward to Angola, and in the southern and eastern waters of the Mediterranean. It is threatened by fishing and habitat degradation in its nursery grounds.

Blackchin guitarfish (Rhinobatos cemiculus). Blackchin guitarfish are found in marine and brackish waters from the northern coast of Portugal to Angola, and throughout coastal Mediterranean waters. Substantial fishing pressure has already led to population declines and extirpation from some areas. Existing regulations do not protect the species.

Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus). Nassau groupers live in coral reefs in the western North Atlantic from Bermuda, Florida, and the Bahamas to the Yucatan Peninsula and throughout the Caribbean to southern Brazil, including occasional sightings in the Gulf of Mexico. They can grow up to four feet in length live up to 29 years. Though normally solitary reef-dwellers, they form large spawning aggregations (from a few dozen to historically over 100,000 individuals) on or near full moons between December and March. Unfortunately, these aggregations are vulnerable to intensive fishing since they are always in the same place at the same time. Often, the discovery of a spawning aggregation is followed by heavy exploitation, and the local population can be extirpated in as little as a few years.


 

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