Saving Seafood

Senate holds hearing to modernize the Endangered Species Act

February 16, 2017 — A Senate hearing to “modernize the Endangered Species Act” unfolded Wednesday just as supporters of the law had feared, with round after round of criticism from Republican lawmakers who said the federal effort to keep species from going extinct encroaches on states’ rights, is unfair to landowners and stymies efforts by mining companies to extract resources and create jobs.

The two-hour meeting of the Environment and Public Works Committee was led by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who said last month that his focus in a bid to change the act would be “eliminating a lot of the red tape and the bureaucratic burdens that have been impacting our ability to create jobs,” according to a report in Energy and Environment News.

In his opening remarks, Barrasso declared that the act “is not working today,” adding that “states, counties, wildlife managers, home builders, construction companies, farmers, ranchers and other stakeholders” have made that clear in complaints about how it impedes land management plans, housing development and cattle grazing, particularly in western states, such as Wyoming.

At least one Republican has vowed to wage an effort to repeal the Endangered Species Act. “It has never been used for the rehabilitation of species,” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said, according to an Associated Press report. “It’s been used to control the land. We’ve missed the entire purpose of the Endangered Species Act. It has been hijacked.”

But members of the hearing said its regulations prevented people from doing business and making a living. In a comment to a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director who testified at the hearing, Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), repeated a point made by Barrasso that of more than 1,600 species listed as threatened or endangered since the act’s inception, fewer than 50 have been removed.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Read more at CNN

GOP aims to change Endangered Species Act

January 17, 2017 — BILLINGS, Mont. — In control of Congress and soon the White House, Republicans are readying plans to roll back the influence of the Endangered Species Act, one of the government’s most powerful conservation tools, after decades of complaints that it hinders drilling, logging and other activities.

Over the past eight years, GOP lawmakers sponsored dozens of measures aimed at curtailing the landmark law or putting species such as gray wolves and sage grouse out of its reach. Almost all were blocked by Democrats and the White House or lawsuits from environmentalists.

Now, with the ascension of President-elect Donald Trump, Republicans see an opportunity to advance broad changes to a law they contend has been exploited by wildlife advocates to block economic development.

“It has never been used for the rehabilitation of species. It’s been used for control of the land,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop. “We’ve missed the entire purpose of the Endangered Species Act. It has been hijacked.”

Bishop said he “would love to invalidate” the law and would need other lawmakers’ cooperation.

The 1973 act was ushered though Congress nearly unanimously, in part to stave off extinction of the national symbol, the bald eagle. Eagle populations have since rebounded, and the birds were taken off the threatened and endangered list in 2007.

In the eagles’ place, another emblematic species — the wolf — has emerged as a prime example of what critics say is wrong with the current law: seemingly endless litigation that offers federal protection for species long after government biologists conclude that they have recovered.

Wolf attacks on livestock have provoked hostility against the law, which keeps the animals off-limits to hunting in most states. Other species have attracted similar ire — Canada lynx for halting logging projects, the lesser prairie chicken for impeding oil and gas development and salmon for blocking efforts to reallocate water in California.

Reforms proposed by Republicans include placing limits on lawsuits that have been used to maintain protections for some species and force decisions on others, as well as adopting a cap on how many species can be protected and giving states a greater say in the process.

Wildlife advocates are bracing for changes that could make it harder to add species to the protected list and to usher them through to recovery. Dozens are due for decisions this year, including the Pacific walrus and the North American wolverine, two victims of potential habitat loss due to climate change.

“Any species that gets in the way of a congressional initiative or some kind of development will be clearly at risk,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president of Defenders of Wildlife and a former Fish and Wildlife Service director under President Bill Clinton. “The political lineup is as unfavorable to the Endangered Species Act as I can remember.”

More than 1,600 plants and animals in the U.S. are now shielded by the law. Hundreds more are under consideration for protections. Republicans complain that fewer than 70 have recovered and had protections lifted.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Post Register 

Feds spreading turtle-protection rules to more shrimp boats

December 16, 2016 — The federal government is tightening rules that make many shrimping boats use devices that keep sea turtles from dying in their nets.

The new rules could eventually save 2,500 turtles per year, said an announcement being published Friday in the Federal Register.

The change was made to settle a lawsuit that the activist environmental group Oceana filed last year, claiming old rules violated the Endangered Species Act by not addressing some deaths caused by shrimping in southeastern states.

Many shrimpers have used safety equipment called turtle-excluder devices for decades, but others have been exempt from rules requiring them. The new rules require the devices on skimmer trawls, pusher-head trawls and butterfly trawls, except for boats doing a different, shallow type of fishing in Miami’s Biscayne Bay.

The new rules are expected to affect about 5,800 boats.

On the Atlantic coast, the rules are projected to cost owners of affected boats an average of $1,365 in the first year, more than $1,200 of that being the cost of TED equipment.

The changes “may be a necessary and advisable action to conserve threatened and endangered sea turtle species,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in announcing the new rules.

All sea turtles in America’s coastal waters are considered either endangered or threatened.

The rule changes are targeted at shrimpers in the South.

Read the full story at The Florida Times-Union

Court backs seal protections on climate change grounds

October 25th, 2016 — A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the Obama administration had the right to use climate change to justify federal protections for the bearded seal.

The ruling from the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court ruling from 2014 and upheld the 2012 decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to designate the bearded seal as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

 The ruling is an important victory for the Obama administration and could help build a precedent of using climate change forecasts for decisions like species protections.

The case hinged on an argument from the oil industry and the state of Alaska that the NMFS relied on climate projections that were not reliable for the time period for which the agency used them.

“This case turns on one issue: When NMFS determines that a species that is not presently endangered will lose its habitat due to climate change by the end of the century, may NMFS list that species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act?” the appeals court asked in its ruling, answering in the affirmative.

Read the full story at The Hill 

Climate Change Projections Can Be Used To List A Species As Threatened, US Court Rules

October 25th, 2016 — In a landmark ruling Monday, a U.S. appeals court said that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) — a federal agency — had acted reasonably when it proposed to list certain populations of bearded seals in Alaska as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The decision, which reverses a 2014 ruling by a lower court, could pave the way for other species being accorded protections based on their vulnerability to projected changes in climate.

“This is a huge victory for bearded seals and shows the vital importance of the Endangered Species Act in protecting species threatened by climate change,” Kristen Monsell, attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity — which had, in 2008, filed a petition to list the species as threatened, said in a statement. “This decision will give bearded seals a fighting chance while we work to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions melting their sea-ice habitat and keep dirty fossil fuels in the ground.”

The Pacific bearded seal is one of the two subspecies of bearded seals. Although it is currently listed as “Least Concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Center for Biological Diversity and the NMFS estimate — based on data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — that the seals’ winter sea-ice habitat in the Bering and Okhotsk seas off Alaska and Russia would decline by at least 40 percent by 2050, and that the subspecies would be endangered by 2095.

Read the full story at the IBT Times 

LOUISIANA: Shrimpers may face new turtle-protection rules

September 14, 2016 — New rules aimed at preventing endangered sea turtles from getting caught and killed in shrimp nets could have an impact on local fishermen.

Federal officials are revising the rules dealing with turtle-excluder devices used in shrimp nets in a court settlement with an international conservation group. In its lawsuit, Oceana alleged that the federal government violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to:

— Determine whether shrimping in the Southeast puts sea turtles at risk of extinction.

— Monitor fishing’s impact on sea turtles.

— Set a limit on how many sea turtles can be caught and killed.

As part of the settlement, the federal government agreed to propose revised regulations by Dec. 15.

“Year after year, the federal government allows tens of thousands of sea turtles to drown in shrimp trawl nets in the Gulf and Atlantic in violation of federal law,” Oceana campaign director Lora Snyder said Monday in a news release. “Oceana is pleased that the Obama administration has finally recognized its responsibility to take action to recover these amazing and vulnerable creatures before it’s too late, and we hope the rule will do just that.”

Read the full story at Houma Today 

Feds take most humpback whales off endangered species list

September 7, 2016 — HONOLULU — Federal authorities took most humpback whales off the endangered species list Tuesday, saying their numbers have recovered through international efforts to protect the giant mammals.

Known for their acrobatic leaps from the sea and complex singing patterns, humpback whales were nearly hunted to extinction for their oil and meat by industrial-sized whaling ships well through the middle of the 20th century. But the species has been bouncing back since an international ban on commercial whaling took effect in 1966.

The moratorium on whaling remains in effect, despite the new classifications.

The National Marine Fisheries Service said it first had evidence to indicate there were 14 distinct populations of humpback whales around the world. It then said nine of these populations have recovered to the point where they no longer need Endangered Species Act Protections. These include whales that winter in Hawaii, the West Indies and Australia.

Before, the agency classified all humpback whales as one population. They had been listed as endangered since 1970.

“Today’s news is a true ecological success story,” Eileen Sobeck, assistant administrator for fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a statement.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Nautilus Finally Moves toward Endangered Species Protection

September 1, 2016 — The world’s most mathematically perfect marine species moved a little bit closer to protection last week when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agreed to consider listing the chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) under the Endangered Species Act.

The move comes after several years of hard work on the part of conservationists and federal agencies to understand the massive scope of the nautilus trade and how it impacts wild populations. According to that research, nearly 1.7 million of these mollusk shells—the natural embodiment of the Fibonacci spiral—have been imported into the U.S. alone over the past 16 years, where they’re sold for anywhere between $15 and $200. The trade in nautilus shells is so bad that it has all-but depleted many populations of these ancient animals.

Further imports as well as interstate trade would become illegal if the species does gain Endangered Species Act protection.

Read the full story at Scientific American

NOAA awards $5.4 million in grants for endangered, threatened species recovery

August 22, 2016 — NOAA has awarded $5.4 million in grants to states and tribes in all coastal regions to help in the recovery of endangered and threatened marine species. The agency also opened a call for 2017 proposals under the Species Recovery Grants Program, authorized under Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act.

This year’s awards include $3.9 million for 17 new grants to 12 states and one federally recognized tribe. The remaining funds will support seven continuing state projects and one continuing tribal project. Visit our website for highlights of this year’s new state and tribal projects.

The funding supports management, research, and outreach efforts designed to bring vulnerable species to a point where Endangered Species Act protections are no longer necessary.

Read the full release at NOAA.gov

D.B. PLESCHNER: Monument proposal would devastate California’s fishing industry

August 15, 2016 — The following is excerpted from an opinion piece written by D.B. Pleschner, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association. It was published today in the Sacramento Bee:

California’s fisheries provide healthy, sustainable food, but that could change under a dangerous new proposal being circulated, until recently, behind closed doors at the Legislature.

California’s fishing community – more than 40 harbors, chambers of commerce, seafood processors and recreational and commercial fishing groups – has united to oppose the proposal to declare virtually all offshore seamounts, ridges and banks off the coast as monuments under the Antiquities Act and permanently close these areas to commercial fishing.

After pursuing rumors, fisheries groups discovered the proposal, along with a sign-on letter encouraging legislative support. But no one bothered to seek any input from recreational and commercial fishermen. Even worse, there has been no scientific review or economic analysis, no public participation and no transparency.

The areas identified in the proposal are indeed special places, rich in marine life and valuable corals, sponges and structures. The seamounts and banks are also very important for fisheries.

Tuna, swordfish, rockfish, spiny lobster, sea urchins, white sea bass and species including mackerels, bonito and market squid are all sustainably fished in Southern and Central California. And in Northern California, albacore tuna and other species provide opportunities to fishermen who, for the past few seasons, have been unable to rely on Chinook salmon and Dungeness crab.

These areas do deserve protection. But policies for protecting resources in federal waters exist under the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and other bipartisan laws, such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act, which require science-based, peer-reviewed analysis conducted in a fully public and transparent process.

Read the full opinion piece at the Sacramento Bee