Status Review of Northeastern Pacific White Sharks under ESA
Status Review of the Northeastern Pacific Population of White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) Under the Endangered Species Act
Heidi Dewar, Tomoharu Eguchi, John Hyde, Doug Kinzey, Suzanne Kohin, Jeff Moore, Barbara L. Taylor, and Russ Vetter. 2013
BACKGROUND :
In June and August of 2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) received two petitions requesting that the northeastern Pacific (NEP) population of white sharks ( Carcharodon carcharias ) be listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In September 2012, NMFS published a 90 – day finding (77 FR 59582) announcing that both petitions presented substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the NEP white shark population may warrant listing under the ESA and that the agency would conduct an ESA status review of the NEP white shark population. NMFS formed a Biological Review Team (BRT) made up of scientists from the Southwest Fisheries Science Center having diverse backgrounds in population modeling, genetics, conservation biology, fisheries management, and shark biology and ecology to conduct the status review. The BRT considered a variety of scientific and technical information and conducted its own independent analyses. This document reports the results of its comprehensive status review of the NEP white shark population . This report was peer reviewed by three independent scientists.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Marine Fisheries Service
Southwest Fisheries Science Center