River Herring ESA Listing Denied

NOAA Fisheries recently announced that listing is not warranted at this time for alewife and blueback herring, collectively known as river herring, as either threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The agency has already funded and will be implementing, in conjunction with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and other partners, a coordinated coast-wide effort to continue to address data needs and proactively conserve river herring and their habitat.

According to NOAA Fisheries, the agency intends to establish a technical working group and to continue to work closely with the ASMFC and others to develop a long-term conservation plan for river herring. NOAA Fisheries intends to revisit the status of river herring within the next five years.

For more information, visit:

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/08/12/2013-19380/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-endangered-species-act-listing-determination-for

source: NOAA Fisheries

North Carolina Sea Turtle Interactions

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries recently issued a statement urging both commercial and recreational fishermen to take steps to avoid interaction with sea turtles.

All species of sea turtles found in North Carolina waters are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. According to DMF, unpermitted sea turtle interactions illegal, including interactions involving commercial as well as recreational fishing gears.

Any fisherman that catches a sea turtle should release it unharmed, if possible. If the turtle is injured, lethargic or comatose, immediately call one of the following numbers:

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Sea Turtle Stranding Hotline 252-241-7367

North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries 800-682-2632

For guidelines on how to avoid sea turtles while fishing and what to do if an accidental catch is made, visit: http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/observer/fishing-guidelines

source: North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries

Atlantic Sturgeon Listed as Endangered Species

Several population segments of Atlantic sturgeon were recently listed under the Endangered Species Act. The Chesapeake Bay, New York Bight, Carolina, and South Atlantic populations of Atlantic sturgeon will be listed as endangered, while the Gulf of Maine population will be listed as threatened.

According to NOAA, the listing decisions will not have an immediate effect on fishing. It has been illegal to fish for, catch or keep Atlantic sturgeon for more than a decade.

source: NOAA FishNews

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Are Not Endangered

On May 27, 2011, NOAA announced that Atlantic bluefin tuna currently do not warrant species protection under the Endangered Species Act.

NOAA is formally designating both the western Atlantic and eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stocks of bluefin tuna as “species of concern” under the Endangered Species Act. This places the species on a watchlist for concerns about its status and threats to the species.

NOAA’s status review, released with the ESA decision and peer-reviewed by The Center for Independent Experts, indicates that based on the best available information and assuming countries comply with the bluefin tuna fishing quotas established by ICCAT, both the western and eastern Atlantic stocks are not likely to become extinct.

New scientific information is expected in a 2012 bluefin tuna stock assessment and as part of the Natural Resources Damage Assessment of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill.

To read the status review report on Atlantic bluefin tuna, the federal register notice and other information on bluefin tuna, please go to: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2011/05/bluefin_tuna.html

Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Grants

NOAA’s Fisheries Service has announced $12.6 million in grants through the Protected Species Cooperative Conservation Grant Program to assist 19 states and territories with conservation projects designed to recover marine mammals, sea turtles, fish, coral and other species listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Several proposals selected during the fiscal year 2010 grant cycle will help fish populations including:

Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife ($1,019,486): To determine habitat requirements and migratory pathways to provide managers with essential information to recover Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon in Delaware, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Maine Department of Marine Resources ($315,330): To determine spatial distribution, key habitat, and movement patterns of shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon among Maine rivers and nearby states to inform management and recovery actions.

Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks ($297,714): To identify feeding habitat for and movement of juvenile and sub-adult Gulf sturgeon in the state’s Pascagoula River estuary.

New York Department of Environmental Conservation ($1,325,437): To collaborate with Maine, Connecticut and New Jersey partners in determining Atlantic sturgeon habitat use and movement throughout the Mid-Atlantic Bight and evaluating spatial strategies to minimize Atlantic sturgeon bycatch.

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources ($1,800,800): To determine shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon movements and habitat use with North Carolina partners to inform regional conservation efforts.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ($576,668): To collaborate with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in tracking coast-wide status and trends of green sturgeon and managing human caused impacts to the species.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ($561,579): Working with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to monitor eulachon smelt abundance and distribution and evaluate fishing techniques to reduce smelt bycatch.

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Status Review

NOAA Fisheries is initiating a status review for the Atlantic bluefin tuna in response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity to list the fish as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

According to NOAA, the organization has reviewed the information submitted by the Center with the listing petition along with commercial and recreational fisheries data, publications and results of studies, and has determined that the petitioned action may be warranted.  

The 90-day finding states that a petition under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to list a species contains "substantial information" that the petitioned action may be warranted; it is not a listing for Atlantic bluefin tuna.

A full explanation of information sought can be found in the Federal Register.

source: NOAA Fish News 

NOAA Lists Georgia Basin Rockfish as Endangered Species

NOAA’s Fisheries Service Grants Federal Protection for Three Georgia Basin Rockfish Species

NOAA’s Fisheries Service has announced that it is listing three populations of rockfish in Washington’s Georgia Basin for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The populations of two of the rockfish species – canary and yelloweye – have been designated as “threatened” and a third rockfish species – bocaccio – as “endangered.” An endangered species is at high risk of extinction; a threatened species is vulnerable to extinction in the near future and in need of protection.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife prohibits fishermen from keeping any rockfish they may accidentally catch in the Puget Sound region. The state agency also forbids bottomfishing in waters deeper than 120 feet, where most of these adult rockfish are found.

For more information on the rockfish ESA listing, see:

http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Other-Marine-Species/Puget-Sound-Marine-Fishes/ESA-PS-Rockfish.cfm