Based on a twelve-month study and review of petitions and documents, the National Marine Fisheries Service has declined to list the northern pacific population of white sharks as an endangered or threatened species.

Responding to a petition filed by WildEarth Guardians on June 20, 2012, NMFS found the northeastern Pacific population of white sharks to qualify as a distinct population segment, but one that does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Using a 2009 study from Stanford University (Jorgensen, S. J., C. A. Reeb, T. K. Chapple, S. Anderson, C. Perle, S. R. Van Sommeran, C. Fritz Cope, A. C. Brown, P. A. Klimley, B. A. Block. 2009. Site fidelity, homing and population structure in eastern pacific white sharks. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B, doi:10:1098/rspb.2009.1155) that use advances in electronic tracking and genetic research that make it possible to discern population structures for pelagic marine predators once thought to be panmictic, the NMFS established that the northeastern Pacific great white is indeed a genetically distinct species. This distinction plays a significant role in determining whether a species should be listed through the ESA.

Conservation groups have been voicing their disappointment in the ruling. Bethany Cotton, Wildlife Program Director at WildEarth Guardians responded to the ruling, “The threats to our oceans and the species that call them home are grave and increasing, yet of the 1,475 species protected under the Endangered Species Act, only 94 are marine species. NMFS’ refusal to protect the imperiled great white shark is part of a larger pattern of failure to address threats to marine species and ocean health.”

Co-author of the original Stanford study Barbara Block pioneered many of the electronic tracking techniques used in the study and has helped develop TOPP: Top Predators Tagging Map, one of 17 projects of the Census of Marine Life, an ambitious 10-year, 80-nation endeavor to assess and explain the diversity and abundance of life in the oceans, and where that life has lived, is living, and will live. Last year Block was awarded a Rolex Award for Enterprise for outstanding achievement in science innovation. She is currently developing a mobile app to allow users to track tagged marine predators real time from their phones. Cool.

FISH ON!

 

 

California, Endangered Species, fish, Fishing, Great White Shark, National Marine Fisheries Service

By Sid

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