NOAA Asks for Comments on Addition of 82 Corals to Endangered Species List
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is requesting comments by July 31, 2012, on a Status Review Report and a draft Management Report prepared by the NOAA in response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to list 83 coral species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
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The Status Review Report examines the biology of, and threats to, and extinction risk of 82 coral species, while the draft Management Report describes existing regulatory mechanisms and ongoing conservation efforts to manage and conserve these species throughout the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. Both reports are available here.
The NOAA also said it plans two public listening sessions and two public scientific workshops on the matter. The NOAA’s final finding is due for publication in the Federal Register no later than December 1, 2012.
(NOAA said, because it has not yet published a proposed listing rule for the 82 coral species, it cannot consider comments on whether a determination should be made as to whether some or all of the petitioned corals are an endangered or threatened species. The Endangered Species Act also prohibits the NOAA from taking economic and or social impacts into consideration in any listing decisions, and therefore the NOA cannot consider comments on these matters.)
NOAA Contact -- Chelsey Young (808) 944-2137