From: Kieran Suckling [ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org]
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2001 11:04 PM
To: Recipient list suppressed
Subject: BIODIVERSITY ACTIVIST #265
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             CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

           <www.biologicaldiversity.org>      2-11-00      #265
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                Marine and Pacific Islands Program Update

§ PETITION FILED TO LIST PACIFIC RED SNAPPER UNDER ESA-
   1ST COMMERCIAL MARINE FISH TO APPROACH EXTINCTION

§ SUIT TO PROTECT BOWHEAD WHALE HABITAT

§ SUIT TO PROTECT NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE HABITAT

§ SUIT CHALLENGES BOMBING OF ISLAND SONGBIRDS & BATS

§ SUIT TO PROTECT FOUR ISLAND FOX SUBSPECIES

§  SILENCE OF THE CLAMS: REPORT DOCUMENTS DECLINE OF
    COLORADO RIVER DELTA, NEAR EXTINCTION OF CLAMS

PETITION FILED TO LIST PACIFIC RED SNAPPER UNDER ESA-
1ST COMMERCIAL MARINE FISH TO APPROACH EXTINCTION
On 1-25-01, the Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense
Council and the Center for Marine Conservation petitioned the National
Marine Fisheries Service to list the Pacific red snapper (also called
“bocaccio”) as a federally “threatened species” in California. As the first
commercial marine species to have declined to a level at which extinction
is possible, the fate of the snapper heralds a growing crisis in commercial
fisheries around the world.

Bocaccio once was the dominant species of rockfish caught by trawl
fishermen on the Pacific coast, but its numbers have declined 98% since
1969. Overfishing is the principle threat, with habitat degradation likely
being a contributing factor as well. In recent decades commercial fishing
technology has advanced tremendously making fish-finding equipment
highly accurate, nets stronger, and fishing gear more versatile. Combined
with an increase in fishing boats, expanded fishing areas and inadequate
management, these innovations have led to severe over-fishing.

The habitats of both young and adult bocaccio are also under pressure.
The piers, rocky areas and kelp forests inhabited by young bocaccio are
near the urbanized coast and are degraded by stormwater runoff, oil spills
and other pollution. The deep waters favored by adult bocaccio have been
altered by the repeated scraping of the ocean floor by heavy trawl nets
and other bottom-fishing gear.
     ______________________

SUIT TO BE FILED TO PROTECT BOWHEAD WHALE HABITAT
On 2-12-01, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice of
intent to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for failure to respond
to a Center petition to designate critical habitat for the Bering-Chukchi-
Beaufort stock of the bowhead whale.

The bowhead whale is listed as an endangered species. The Bering-
Chukchi-Beaufort Sea stock is the largest and most viable of five extant
bowhead stocks, but tragically is the most threatened by human activity.
Large-scale industrial development and the associated vessel traffic of
the oil and gas industry have proliferated within the bowhead’s habitat
since the late 1970’s. No fewer than five massive offshore projects are
currently in operation or in the planning stages in the Beaufort Sea, and
an additional four onshore facilities produce at least some of their oil from
offshore.

The Center’s petition presented scientific evidence showing that the
Beaufort Sea should be designated and protected as “critical habitat”
for the bowhead whale. The National Marine Fisheries Service, however,
has ignored the petition for over 60-days.
     ______________________

SUIT TO BE FILED TO PROTECT RIGHT WHALE HABITAT
On 2-12-01, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice of intent
to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for failure to respond to a
Center petition to designate critical habitat for the northern right whale.

Once abundant in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Northern right
whale is now the most endangered whale in the world. Prized for its oil and
baleen plates—and preferred for its slow speed and floating-carcass
characteristic—commercial whalers deemed right whales the “right whale”
to hunt, and nearly extirpated the Northern right whale from both oceans.
Today there may be only 300 right whales left in the Atlantic Ocean, and
perhaps only 100 left in the Pacific.

The Center’s scientific petition requested that part of the Bering Sea be
designated and protected as “critical habitat” for the Pacific population of
the northern right whale. To find out more about the right whale and see
maps of the recommended critical habitat area:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/right/nprw1.html>
     ____________________

SUIT CHALLENGES BOMBING PACIFIC ISLAND SONGBIRDS & BATS
On 1-19-01, the Center for Biological Diversity file suit stop the U.S. Navy
from bombing the island of Farallon de Medinilla. The 200 acre island lays
45 nautical miles north of Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands. For a map see:
<www.guam.net/pub/sshs/depart/science/mancuso/marianas/fdm/med.htm>

Uninhabited by humans, Farallon de Medinilla hosts breeding colonies of
Great frigatebirds; Masked, Red-footed, and Brown boobys; red and
white-tailed tropicbirds; White and Sooty terns; Brown and Black noddys;
and other migratory seabirds. It is one of only two small breeding colonies
of the Great frigatebird in the Mariana Island chain and the largest nesting
site for masked boobies in the Mariana and Caroline Islands. The
Micronesian megapode (a bird) and the Mariana fruit bat, both listed as
endangered under the Endangered Species Act, also inhabit the island. To
find out more about the megapode:
<http://www.r1.fws.gov/pacific/wesa/megapodeindex.html>

The Navy and other branches of the U.S. military, use Farallon de Medinilla
throughout the year for target practice including air-to-surface gunnery with
missiles and rockets; bombing runs with 500-, 750-, and 2000-lbs bombs;
precision-guided munitions; mines; target practice with deck-mounted guns;
grenades, machine guns, and shoulder-launched missiles.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, one of the oldest conservation statutes in
existence, has since 1918 flatly prohibited harm to migratory birds absent a
permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The Service refused to issue
such a permit to the Navy in 1996, but the Navy has continued to bomb the
island anyway, claiming that the Treaty Act doesn't apply to federal
agencies. The Center for Biological Diversity is asking the court to declare
that the statute does indeed apply, and to issue an injunction halting all
live-fire exercises on the island unless and until the Navy complies fully with
the Treaty Act.

In a related suit, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Marianas
Audubon Society filed challenged the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s failure
to map out and designate critical habitat for seven endangered species on
Guam, including the Mariana fruit bat, little Mariana fruit bat, Mariana crow,
Guam rail, Guam Micronesian kingfisher, Guam broadbill, and Guam
bridled white-eye. For information on this suit:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/guam.html>

Both suits are being argued by David Henkin of the Earthjustice Legal
Defense Fund (Honolulu).
     ___________________

SUIT TO BE FILED TO PROTECT FOUR ISLAND FOX SUBSPECIES
On 12-4-00, the Center for Biological Diversity formally notified the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service that it will file suit over the agency’s failure to
respond to a petition by the Center and the Institute for Wildlife Studies to
list four subspecies of island fox as endangered species.

Though weighing less than 5.5 pounds the San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa
Cruz, and Santa Catalina Island foxes are top level predators of great
importance to the Channel Islands ecosystem of southern California. They
are the largest native mammals, and the largest native terrestrial predators
on the islands. Their extinction would be a tremendous loss to California’s
unique natural heritage and the ecological balance of the Channel Islands.

The San Miguel Island fox has dropped from a historic population of about
450 in 1994 to 15 in 1999. Just one remains in the wild. The Santa Rosa
Island fox may now be down to as few as 10 foxes in the wild. Despite the
dire status of the foxes, the Fish & Service refuses to process the petition,
citing an illegal, self-imposed moratorium on protecting new species under
the Endangered Species Act.

To learn more about the island fox:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/fox.html>

To learn more about the moratorium and what you can do to end it:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/ESA/moratorium.html>
     ______________________

SILENCE OF THE CLAMS: REPORT DOCUMENTS DECLINE OF
COLORADO RIVER DELTA, NEAR EXTINCTION OF CLAMS
A study by Dr. Karl Flessa of the University of Arizona in the journal
Geology documents a 95% decline in populations of a native clam species
in the Colorado River Delta since the 1930's when dams and water
diversions began to dramatically alter the U.S. side of the river. Like many
species in the Delta and northern Gulf of California, the clam requires fresh
water flows from the Colorado River. In many years, however, the
diversions and dams prevent any water from reaching Mexico or the Delta.

The Delta formerly supported six billion clams at a time, five in every
square foot. Today there is only one clam in every three square feet with
many areas completely devoid of the species. In research sponsored by
the Center for Biological Diversity and the National Science Foundation,
Dr. Flessa is studying the distribution and taxonomy of the species.
     __________________

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