[Coral-List] FW: FYI: Federal protection for coral is weighed
Precht, Bill
Bprecht at pbsj.com
Tue Jul 6 12:57:35 EDT 2004
To All:
FYI-
Subject: FYI: Federal protection for coral is weighed
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/9051295.htm?ERIGHTS=42845445336637
22333miami
Posted on Thu, Jul. 01, 2004
Partial article posted below - for full text see link above
-------------------
ENDANGERED SPECIES
Federal protection for coral is weighed
Three types of Florida coral are going to be the first considered for
protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
BY JENNIFER BABSON
jbabson at herald.com
KEY WEST - For the first time, a federal agency will consider whether to
add three types of coral found in Florida waters to the U.S. list of
threatened and endangered species.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine
Fisheries Service agreed June 17 to convene a team of experts between
now and March to recommend whether elkhorn coral, staghorn coral and
fused staghorn -- a hybrid variety of the others -- should officially be
deemed under threat.
''This is going to be the first coral species under review for federal
protection,'' said Jennifer Moore, a NOAA natural resource specialist.
The decision came after a petition was filed in March by the Center For
Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based environmental group.
''We are very happy about this. We are glad they are one step closer to
saving this precious resource,'' said Adam Keats, an attorney for the
center.
The corals have been on NOAA's ''species of concern'' list -- which
basically means they are under watch -- since 1999. All three types are
typically golden brown and known for branches that extend like tree limbs.
....
They were once prolific, but their numbers have been sharply reduced in
recent years by coral bleaching, boat groundings and disease.
PERIOD OF DECLINE
''Elkhorn and staghorn were the predominant reef-building species in the
Caribbean,'' said Cheva Heck, spokeswoman for the Florida Keys National
Marine Sanctuary, a NOAA entity that will assist the panel of coral
experts. ``They began to decline in a major way in the 1970s, though the
most destruction was in the 1980s and 1990s.''
In the Keys, said Heck, ''more than 90 percent of both kinds of coral
has died'' over the past few decades.
Although coral is already safeguarded in the 3,843-square-mile sanctuary
-- which stretches from Biscayne National Park to the Tortugas --
proponents say that adding these species to the federal list would
provide additional resources and protections.
FEDERAL REVIEW
Significantly, the designation would require that all proposed federal
and some other actions that could have an impact on the coral -- from
fisheries rules to dredging projects -- have a federal sign-off before
proceeding.
Said Heck: ``It's a much broader protection than what we have now in the
sanctuary because what we have now is a direct protection -- you can't
touch it, you can't take it. This would require accounting for the
possible effects of different projects.''
The coral would join other federally threatened or endangered Florida
marine creatures such as the sperm whale, the green turtle and the manatee.
(c) 2004 Herald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miami.com
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