Download Petition to List Pinto Abalone as Endangered under the ESA

PETITION TO LIST PINTO
ABALONE AS ENDANGERED
UNDER THE ESA
Rachel Aronson – [email protected]
Adi Hanein – [email protected]
Amy Klein – [email protected]
Zachary Meyer – [email protected]
University of Washington ESRM 458
Professors M. Miller and J. Marzluff
March 7, 2012
(Welch 2012)
Outline
1.
2.
The Client
Pinto Abalone
Current Status
II. Population Decline
III. Reasoning for Listing
under ESA
I.
(Welch 2012)
The Client: Center for
Biological Diversity
• Miyoko Sakashita
• “We work to secure a
future for all species,
great and small, hovering
on the brink of extinction.
We do so through
science…”
• “We want those who
come after us to inherit a
world where the wild is
still alive.”
(Center for Biological Diversity 2012)
Current Status of Pinto
Abalone
•
IUCN Red List– Endangered
•
Canada (COSEWIC)
• Threatened in 1999
• Endangered as of 2009
•
United States – Species of Concern
• Receives no protection under ESA
Pinto Abalone
•
Marine Gastropod
• Broadcast spawner
• CaCO3 Shell
(Welch 2012)
Pinto Abalone Population Decline
(Photo courtesy of: Independent.com)
Pinto Abalone Fisheries History and
Continued Monitoring
• Commercial fisheries existed
in Alaska and British
Columbia, recreational
fishery in Washington
• Poor management led to
permanent fishery closures
in the 1990’s
• Continued monitoring shows
populations continue to
decline
Recent Pinto abalone abundance declines in the San
Juan archipelago (pugetsoundscienceupdate.com)
ESA definition of “species”
• The pinto abalone is a “species” under the ESA
• The Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 – 1544,
allows any species of fish or wildlife or plants to be listed
under the provisions of the act. Section 3(8) of the ESA
defines “fish or wildlife” to mean “any member of the animal
kingdom, including without limitation any mammal, fish, or
bird…, mollusk, crustacean, arthropod, or other
invertebrate…” 16 U.S.C. § 1532 (8) (emphasis added). The
pinto abalone is a mollusk. The pinto abalone (Haliotis
kamtschatkana) was formally described as a species in 1845
by Jonas (Cox 1962). Its taxonomy and validity as a species
is uncontested. It qualifies as a “species” under the Act.
Petitioners seek protection for the species throughout its
range in Alaska, Washington, and California.
ESA definition of
endangered
The Secretary shall by regulation promulgated in accordance
with subsection (b) determine whether any species is an
endangered species or a threatened species because of any of
the following factors:
(A) the present or threatened destruction, modification, or
curtailment of its habitat or range;
(B) overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or
educational purposes;
(C) disease or predation;
(D) the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or
(E) other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued
existence.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Predation and Disease
Sea Otters
Withering Syndrome
Synergy with Warming
Inadequacy of existing
regulatory mechanisms
• Strict fishing regulations are too little, too
late for population rebound.
• Climate change effects on abalone
habitat are unregulated
Destruction of Habitat or
Range
Ocean Acidification:
• CO2 + CO32- + H20 ←→
2HCO3• Decreases the availability of
carbonate ions in the water
• Carbonate ions are essential
for calcifying organisms
• Larval survival decreases
(Crim et al. 2011)
• Shell deformities (Crim et al.
2011)
Larval Recruitment
• ž
Low
•
•
densities from over harvesting
žLow fertilization success
žGlobal climate change
o
Degraded sperm
—
o
Decrease in eggs due to decreased food
—
resources
Final thoughts: Protection
for Invertebrates is Key
• Once listed, the Pinto Abalone would
join the Black Abalone, the White
Abalone and the Elkhorn and Staghorn
Corals as the only marine invertebrates
protected under the ESA.
• IUCN has considered for listing 54% of
vertebrate species, compared to 1% of
invertebrate species.
Selected References
•
•
•
•
•
Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). 2012. “Our Mission”.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/about/index.html
Crim, R.N. 2010. Effects of ocean acidification on different life history stages
of northern abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana). MSc thesis. University of
British Columbia: Vancouver, Canada.
Crim, R.N., Sunday, J.M. and C.D.G. Harley. 2011. Elevated seawater CO2
concentrations impair larval development and reduce larval survival in
endangered northern abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana). Journal of
Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 400(1-2): 272-277.
(http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022098111000499)
Endangered Species Act of 1973, Pub. L. No. 93-205, Approved Dec. 28,
1973, 87 Stat. 884.
Welch, Craig. 2012. "Abalone Are Treasured — Nearly to Extinction
Locally." The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009202083_abalone10m.
html.