Federal Protection of NE Pacific Ocean White Shark not warranted

NOAA_logo2Press Release

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

28. June 2013

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NOAA finds federal protection of northeastern Pacific Ocean white shark not warranted at this time

NOAA Fisheries today issued a final determination that the northeastern Pacific Ocean white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) population is not in danger of extinction and does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.

NOAA Fisheries reviewed the status of this white shark population in response to two separate petitions submitted last year to list the species under the act. The requests contained enough information for NOAA Fisheries to convene a biological review team to more fully assess the status of the population.

The team, composed of eight federal research scientists, found this white shark population meets the criteria to qualify as a distinct population segment or DPS under the act, which allows the species or sub-species to be considered for listing. The known range of the northeastern Pacific white shark DPS extends from the Bering Sea to Mexico along the West Coast of North America and westward to the Hawaiian Islands.

However, based on the information compiled by the team and a careful look at the best available science, NOAA Fisheries determined that this white shark population has a low to very low risk of extinction now and in the foreseeable future. The extinction risk analysis was based on a review of threats to the population, direct and indirect indicators of population abundance trends, information on population abundance, and population modeling aimed at analyzing the impact of fisheries bycatch in the U.S. and Mexico.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources.

On the web: How species are listed under the Endangered Species Act:  http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/listing/

Source: NOAA

Note by Shark Year Magazine :

Please see the related report

Dewar et al. 2013

Status Review of the Northeastern Pacific Population of White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias)
Under the Endangered Species Act

NOAA 

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1 Comment

  1. Would it be possible to know who those eight federal researchers are?

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