Historical Extent of Decline
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NMFS / Interagency Working Group Evaluation of CITES Criteria and Guidelines Pamela M. Mace (Chair) Andy W. Bruckner Nancy K. Daves John D. Field John R. Hunter Nancy E. Kohler Robert G. Kope Susan S. Lieberman Margaret W. Miller James W. Orr Robert S. Otto Tim D. Smith Nancy B. Thompson with contributions from Julie Lyke and Arthur G. Blundell U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-58 October 2002 -1- NMFS / Interagency Working Group Evaluation of CITES Criteria and Guidelines Pamela M. Mace (Chair) Andy W. Bruckner Nancy K. Daves John D. Field John R. Hunter Nancy E. Kohler Robert G. Kope Susan S. Lieberman Margaret W. Miller James W. Orr Robert S. Otto Tim D. Smith Nancy B. Thompson with contributions from Julie Lyke and Arthur G. Blundell NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-58 October 2002 U.S. Department of Commerce Donald L. Evans, Secretary National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret.) Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere National Marine Fisheries Service William T. Hogarth, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries -2- This document is the result of several meetings and teleconferences of the NMFS / Interagency Working Group to evaluate CITES criteria and guidelines, held over a two-year period beginning in October 2000. The purposes were to evaluate existing CITES criteria and guidelines, to suggest improvements, and to evaluate the pro- posed improvements for a variety of marine and other taxa. Suggested citation: Mace, P.M., A.W. Bruckner, N.K. Daves, J.D. Field, J.R. Hunter, N.E. Kohler, R.G. Kope, S. S. Lieberman, M.W. Miller, J.W. Orr, R.S. Otto, T.D. Smith, N.B. Thomp- son, J. Lyke and A.G. Blundell. 2002. NMFS / Interagency Working Group Evaluation of CITES Criteria and Guidelines. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-58, 70 p. A copy of this report may be obtained from: NMFS Office of Science and Technology 1315 East-West Highway, Room 12524 Silver Spring, MD 20910 or on the internet at: http://www.st.nmfs.gov/st2/index.html Cover photograph: Coral reef and associated species. Credit: OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP), University of North Carolina at Wilmington; D. Kesling; Image ID nur00524, NOAA Photo Library -ii- Table of Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Summary of Terms of Reference ........................................................................................................... 3 2. Background: CITES Resolution Conf. 9.24 ........................................................................................... 5 3. Issues and Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 7 A. Decline .......................................................................................................................................... 7 B. Absolute Numbers, Biomass, or Area ............................................................................................ 8 C. Generation Times .......................................................................................................................... 9 D. Fluctuations ................................................................................................................................. 11 E. The Utility of Numeric Guidelines .............................................................................................. 12 4. Proposal for Revised CITES Guidelines .............................................................................................. 13 A. Historical Extent of Decline ........................................................................................................ 13 B. Recent Rate of Decline ................................................................................................................ 14 C. Relevant Modifying Factors ........................................................................................................ 16 5. Postscript: Developments since Initial Drafting of this Report ........................................................... 19 References for Sections 1-5 .............................................................................................................. 20 6. Evaluations by Taxonomic Groups ...................................................................................................... 21 A. Marine Species ............................................................................................................................ 21 Demersal finfish ..................................................................................................................... 21 Small pelagic fishes ................................................................................................................ 23 Highly migratory species ........................................................................................................ 24 Sharks ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Deepwater species .................................................................................................................. 30 Salmonids ................................................................................................................................ 34 Cold-water invertebrates ......................................................................................................... 35 Warm-water invertebrates ...................................................................................................... 37 Marine mammals .................................................................................................................... 42 Sea turtles ............................................................................................................................... 44 B. Others .......................................................................................................................................... 49 Sturgeons ................................................................................................................................ 49 Plants ...................................................................................................................................... 50 Trees .................................................................................................................................. 51 Orchids .............................................................................................................................. 53 -iii- APPENDICES Appendix I. Relationship Between Threshold Extent of Decline, Resilience and Productivity ........................................................................................................................ 56 Appendix II. Hypothetical Example Illustrating the Importance of Considering the Historical Extent of Decline and the Recent Rate of Decline in Conjunction with One Another .................................................................................................. 62 Appendix III. Graphs Combining Numeric Guidelines for the Historical Extent of Decline, Recent Rate of Decline, and Productivity ................................................................... 63 Appendix IV. The Importance of an Historical Perspective ............................................................ 64 Appendix V. Another Problem with the Use of Generation Times as Time Horizons .................... 65 Appendix VI. Explanations and Discussion of Selected Modifying Factors ................................... 66 Appendix VII. Relationship of CITES to the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act ................................................................................................ 70 -iv- Executive Summary At present, the Convention on International nearer the 5% end, low productivity species Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and being nearer the 30% end, and average pro- Flora (CITES) criteria used to assess whether a ductivity species being somewhere in the population qualifies for inclusion in the CITES middle, worked reasonably well for ex- Appendices relate to (A) size of the population, (B) ploited marine species. area of distribution of the population, and (C) declines in the size of the population. Numeric • For the historical extent of decline, the time guidelines are provided as indicators of a small frame to examine should extend as far back population (less than 5,000 individuals), a small into history as possible, regardless of the subpopulation (less than 500 individuals), a restricted mean generation time of the species in ques- area of distribution for a population (less than 10,000 tion, in order to enable a meaningful km2), a restricted area of distribution for a subpopula- baseline to be chosen (noting that the base- tion (less than 500 km2), a high rate of decline (a line need not be the highest historical point; decrease of 50% or more in total within 5 years or depending on the species under considera- two generations whichever is longer or, for a small tion, the baseline may relate to some point in wild population, a decline of 20% or more in total history, or to a reasonable or potential