April 1987 Vol
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April 1987 Vol. XII No. 4 Department of interior. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Technical Bulletin Endangered Species Program, Washington, D.C. 20240 Texas Fish, Considered Extinct, is Proposed for Delisting The Amistad gambusia {Gambusia members of a distinct species until well af- and at Dexter National Fish Hatchery in amistadensis), a small fish known from a ter construction of Amistad Dam, a U.S. New Mexico. Since that time, all captive single spring in Val Verde County, Texas, Army Corps of Engineers project, had be- populations have died or have been elimi- is widely considered to be extinct. Accord- gun. The impoundment put the spring un- nated through hybridization with, and pre- ingly, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) der more than 70 feet (21 meters) of silty dation by, the mosquitofish (Gambusia af- recently proposed to remove it from the list water, changed water temperatures, and finus). of Endangered and Threatened wildlife eliminated the shoreline aquatic vegeta- (F.R. 3/11/87). tion inhabited by the gambusia from the The original description of G. spring area. By 1973, when the species Comments on the proposal to remove amistadensis was based on specimens was formally described, it was already ex- the Amistad gambusia from its Endan- collected in 1968 from Goodenough tinct in its native habitat. G. amistadensis gered classification are welcome, and Spring, a tributary of the Rio Grande, just was listed as an Endangered species in should be sent to the Regional Director, prior to its inundation by the rising Amistad 1980, at which time it occurred only in cap- Region 2 (address on page 2 of this BUL- Reservoir. They were not recognized as tivity at the University of Texas in Austin LETIN), by May 11, 1987. National Marine Fisheries Service Proposes Shrimp Fishing Industry Use of Turtle Excluder Devices Gloria Thompson Office of Protected Species and Habitat Conservation National Marine Fisheries Service In the March 2, 1987, Federal Register, All five species of sea turtles (log- network in 1979 to patrol coastal U.S. the National Marine Fisheries Service gerhead, Kemp's ridley, green, leather- beaches and report on strandings. From (NMFS) of the U.S. Department of Com- back, and hawksbill) found in marine wa- January 1980 through December 1986, merce proposed rules that would require ters off the southeastern U.S. and the Gulf 8,317 marine turtles (excluding those from shrimp trawlers in the Gulf of Mexico and of Mexico are protected by the ESA. the NMFS "headstart" program) were re- in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the (NMFS has legal authority over sea turtles ported as stranded. southeastern United States to use ap- in the water and the Fish and Wildlife Serv- Often it is impossible to determine the proved gear in specified locations and at ice has authority when they are on land.) cause of death of a stranded turtle. Not all specified times in order to reduce inciden- One threat facing these species is that of the sea turtles that strand can be at- tal captures of Endangered and Threat- many are caught in shrimp trawls. Based tributed to shrimp trawling; however, there ened sea turtles in shrimp trawls. on observer data, NMFS estimates that often is a correlation between the level of These proposed rules had been jointly annually 47,973 are incidentally caught, strandings and major shrimping efforts. recommended to NMFS by representa- and that 11,179 of them die. An estimated This correlation has been documented by tives of affected shrimpers and several en- 767 Kemp's ridleys alone are killed each scientists and Sea Turtle Stranding and vironmental groups as offering the best year by the off-shore shrimp fleet in the Salvage Network personnel from South prospect for reducing incidental sea turtle southeastern U.S. This species is in the Carolina to Florida, as well as Louisiana drownings as near to zero as possible greatest peril of extinction; its nesting num- and Texas. Stranding reports tend to cor- while avoiding, to the greatest extent pos- bers have dwindled from an estimated roborate the data from direct capture ob- sible, adverse economic effects on the 40,000 in one day in 1947 to an annual es- servations, and together they indicate that shrimp fishing industry. They contain crite- timate of 572 in 1986 (due to a number of shhmp trawling is a significant source of ria and procedures for testing and approv- factors). sea turtle mortality. ing turtle excluder devices (TEDs), specify areas and seasons in which approved Stranding Data Gear Research TEDs must be used, extend current report- ing requirements, extend existing meas- Some sea turtles that die in U.S. waters In 1978, NMFS initiated a research pro- ures for resuscitation and release of cap- wash toward shore and are found stranded gram to develop gear that would reduce tured sea turtles, continue current in coastal areas. Because of the protected the mortality of sea turtles associated with designations of Critical Habitat, and state status of the species, a need to collect in- shrimp trawling. Other project goals were the Departmental enforcement policy with formation about the species, and interest to prevent significant shrimp loss and to respect to violations of the Endangered from the public, NMFS, in cooperation with minimize the economic impacts on Species Act (ESA) and these rules. the States, established a volunteer (continued on page 4) > ENDANGERED SPECIES TECHNICAL BULLETIN Vol. XII No. 4 (1987) action involves systematically drilling 700- foot test holes and setting off 50-pound charges of dynamite to determine a poten- tial for oil and gas reserves. It may affect three federally-listed Endangered species, the San Joaquin kit fox {Vulpes macrotis mutica), blunt- nosed leopard lizard {Gam- belia silus), and giant kangaroo rat (Di- podomys ingens). Chevron U.S.A. will conduct initial searches for occurrence of these species. Possible mitigation in- cludes avoidance of kit fox dens and giant kangaroo rat colony sites; use of a mini- mum 200-foot buffer to prevent burrow col- lapse from seismic explosion; implementa- tion of an employee training program; limiting vehicles to existing roads; re- habilitation of disturbed habitats; and con- Regional News struction of barriers, fences, and gates af- ter project actions to minimize future off- Endangered species program re- Species Office (SESO) met with repre- road vehicle use. gional staff members have reported the sentatives of the California Department of The Bureau of Land Management and following activities for the month of Fish and Game, Bureau of Land Manage- Department of Energy, as the Federal per- March: ment, and Chevron U.S.A. in February re- mitting agencies, will be consulting for- Region 1 — The Fish and Wildlife Serv- garding a proposed 27-square mile seis- mally with the FWS on this project. ice's (FWS) Sacramento Endangered mic exploration project. The proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3, Federal BIdg., Fort Snelling, Twin Washington, D.C. 20240 Cities. MN 55111 (612-725-3500); Har- Sand City, California (Monterey vey Nelson, Regional Director. John S. County), has proposed to rezone and re- Frank Dunkle, Director Popowski, Assistant Regional Director: develop coastal and dune habitats that (202-343-4717) James M Enyel. Endangered Species may contain Endangered Smith's blue but- Ronald E. Lambertson Specialist. terflies {Euphilotes enoptes smithi). Assistant Director tor Fish Smith's blue butterflies have been col- and Wildlife Enhancement Region 4, Richard B. Russell Federal BIdg.. 75 Spring St.. S,W. Atlanta, GA 30303 lected from sand dune habitats in Sand (202-343-4646) (404-331 -3580); James W, Pulliam, Re- John Christian, Acting Chief City as recently as July 1986. The SESO gional Director: John I Christian. Assi- Office of Endangered Species informed the city about the prohibitions in stant Regional Director. Marshall P. (703-235-2771) the Endangered Species Act regarding in- Jones, Endangered Species Specialist. Earl B. Baysinger, Chief. cidental take of listed species and the reg- Federal Wildlife Permit Office Region 5, One Gateway Center, Suite 700, ulatory process that has been established (703-235-1937) Newton Corner, MA 02158 (617-965- for issuing permits to authorize such inci- Clark R Bavin, Chief. 5100); Howard Larson, Regional Direc- dental take. Division of Law Enforcement tor: Stephen W, Parry, Assistant Re- (202-343-9242) gional Director: Paul Nickerson, En- dangered Species Specialist. TECHNICAL BULLETIN Staff Pursuant to stipulations on a U.S. Army Michael Bender, Editor Region 6, P.O. Box 25486, Denver Federal Corps of Engineers permit and recommen- Denise Henne, Assistant Editor Center, Denver, CO 80225 (303-236- dations made through formal consultation (703-235-2407) 7920); Galen Buterbaugh, Regional Di- rector: John D, Green, Assistant Re- for the filling of 180 acres of wetlands at gional Director: Barry S. Mulder, En- Oakland Airport, the SESO is working with Regional Offices dangered Species Specialist. other agencies to develop a management agreement with the Port of Oakland. This Region 7, 1011 E. Tudor Rd., Anchorage, Region 1, Lloyd 500 BIdg,, Suite 1692, 500 agreement will provide for a secure Cal- N E. IVIultnomah St., Portland, OR AK 99503 (907-786-3542); Robert E ifornia least tern (Sterna antillarum brown!) 97232 (503-231-61 18); Rolf L. Wal- Gilmore, Regional Director, Jon Nelson, lenstrom. Regional Director, David F. Assistant Regional Director: Dennis nesting colony. The other involved agen- Riley, Assistant Regional Director] Money, Endangered Species Special- cies include the San Francisco Bay Con- Wayne S. White, Endangered Species ist. servation and Development Commission, Specialist. Region 8 (FWS Research and Develop- California Department of Fish and Game, Region 2, P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque, NM ment), Washington, D C.