Reef Ramblings

US Proposes Listing 66 Stony Coral Species as Endangered

In response to a 2009 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to list 83 coral species as threatened, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is proposing Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings for 66 stony coral species, 59 from the Pacific and seven from the Caribbean.

Indo-Pacific

In the Pacific seven coral species are listed as endangered:

A further 52 species are listed as threatened, including a number of popular reef aquarium corals:

Indo-Pacific Species – Proposed Threatened
Acanthastrea brevis	Alveopora fenestrata
Acanthastrea hemprichii	Alveopora verrilliana
Acanthastrea ishigakiensis	Barabattoia laddi
Acanthastrea regularis	Caulastrea echinulata
Acropora aculeus	Euphyllia cristata
Acropora acuminata	Euphyllia paraancora
Acropora aspera	Isopora crateriformis
Acropora dendrum	Isopora cuneata
Acropora donei	Montipora angulata
Acropora globiceps	Montipora australiensis
Acropora horrida	Montipora calcarea
Acropora listeria	Montipora caliculata
Acropora microclados	Montipora dilatata/flabellata/turgescens
Acropora palmerae	Montipora lobulata
Acropora paniculata	Montipora patula/verrilli
Acropora pharaonis	Millepora tuberosa
Acropora polystoma	Pachyseris rugosa
Acropora retusa	Pavona diffluens
Acropora speciosa	Pectinia alcicornis
Acropora striata	Physogyra lichtensteini
Acropora tenella	Pocillopora danae
Acropora vaughani	Pocillopora elegans (Indo-Pacific)
Acropora verweyi	Porites horizontalata
Anacropora puertogalerae	Porites napopora
Astreopora cucullata	Porites nigrescens
Alveopora allingi	Seriatopora aculeata

 

Caribbean/Atlantic/Gulf

In the Caribbean/Atlantic/Gulf region, five species are listed as endangered and two as threatened, with two species already listed being reclassified from threatened to endangered.

 

 

All of the species proposed for listing are already protected under CITES – the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

What does this mean for the hobby?

Being listed as an endangered species prohibits the collection of the species along with the import, export, or any commercial activities dealing in the species. Prohibition is not automatic for species listed as threatened, but can be applied to them as well.

Effectively this will remove all of the species listed under the ESA from the US reef aquarium hobby except for existing captive stock.

It is unclear whether the prohibition would apply to the trade in frags of these species taken from existing captive stock. I would certainly hope not.

Does this ban affect the UK hobby?

The prohibition applies to the USA and its territories not to areas outside of US control so any ban may not directly affect the UK/EU hobby and trade. Indeed, there is the possibility of increased availability of some of these species given the loss of the US as a purchaser.

However, legislation such as this, should it go ahead, may increase the chances of other nations restricting the collection and sale of corals for the reef aquarium hobby.

What happens next?

There will be a 90-day public comment period during which NOAA will hold 18 public meetings on the proposed listing before making a final decision by December 2013.

To find out more about the proposed listing, see the NOAA website.

Further articles in connection with the Centre for Biological Diversity:

Possible ban on collecting clownfishes.

Center for Biological Diversity Seeks Endangered Species Act Protection for the Dwarf Seahorse.

The Beginning of the End for Stony Corals in the Reef Aquarium Hobby.

 

Tim Hayes

Reef Ramblings

©2012

 

Tags: Coral, news, Reef, sustainable

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 at 7:26 pm and is filed under Reef Aquarium News, Reef News., Sustainable Marine Aquarium Hobby. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.