Caribbean Electric Ray Will Be Considered for Endangered Species Act Listing

Shrimp fisheries threaten rare ray

Washington, DC – As a result of a petition by WildEarth Guardians, the National Marine Fisheries Service (Service) announced today it will consider the Caribbean electric ray for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These small rays live in shallow coastal waters off the Gulf coast, the Caribbean, the Antilles, and the northern coast of South America. WildEarth Guardians’ original petition to list the species, filed in 2010, was denied by the Service. Today’s positive finding comes as a result of Guardians’ legal challenge to that denial, the result of which was a legal settlement requiring the service to reexamine the available information and supplementary information provided by Guardians and Defenders of Wildlife. As a result of the finding, the Service is starting an in-depth review of the species status. The Service must make a listing determination within a year.

“Our oceans are suffering an extinction crisis,” said Taylor Jones, Endangered Species Advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “The Caribbean electric ray is just one of many marine species that need legal protections but aren’t getting it because of agency foot-dragging and denial.”

True to its name, the Caribbean electric ray produces 14-37 volts of electricity: not enough to harm a human, but enough to stun prey or shock predators. The ray’s electric personality is not enough of a defense, however: 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. Guardians’ petition describes an array of other likely threats, including habitat destruction, small population size, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“According to recent research, sharks and rays are more vulnerable to extinction than most other vertebrates,” said Jones. “We call on the agency to take seriously the myriad threats faced by the rare Caribbean electric ray, and to quickly finalize protections to ensure the ray’s continued survival.”

Though an estimated 50-80 percent of all life on earth is found in the world’s oceans, only 5 percent of species listed under the ESA are marine species. The ESA is a proven effective safety net for imperiled species: more than 99 percent of plants and animals listed under the Act persist today. The Act is especially important as a bulwark against the current extinction crisis: plants and animals 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 were it not for the protections provided by ESA listing.


 

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