Coaster Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) 12-Month Finding Decision Document SEPTEMBER 2009 0 Coaster Brook Trout 12-Month Finding Decsion Document TABLE OF CONTENTS PURPOSE ............................................................................................................................................................... 1 BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 DECISION STRUCTURE ........................................................................................................................................... 4 DECISION PROBLEM .................................................................................................................................................... 5 OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................................................. 7 ALTERNATIVES ............................................................................................................................................................. 7 CONSEQUENCES ........................................................................................................................................................ 10 TRADE-OFFS .............................................................................................................................................................. 13 DISTINCT POPULATION ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................. 13 DISCRETENESS ........................................................................................................................................................... 14 SIGNIFICANCE ........................................................................................................................................................... 15 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................................. 19 CONSERVATION STATUS ..................................................................................................................................... 19 PHASE 1 – CURRENT CONSERVATION STATUS ............................................................................................................. 19 PHASE 2 – 5 FACTOR ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................................. 20 PHASE 3 – GENERAL BROOK TROUT POPULATION EXTINCTION RISK ANALYSES ........................................................... 20 PHASE 4 – EXTINCTION RISK OF UPPER GREAT LAKES DPS ........................................................................................ 21 NUMBER OF VIABLE POPULATIONS WITHIN THE DPS ................................................................................................... 21 GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATIONS WITHIN THE DPS ................................................................................. 22 CONNECTIVITY AMONG POPULATIONS WITHIN THE DPS .............................................................................................. 22 GENETIC, BEHAVIORAL, AND ECOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AMONG POPULATIONS WITHIN THE DPS ..................................... 23 DEFINING “FORESEEABLE FUTURE”.......................................................................................................................... 24 INFLUENCE OF RESIDENTS ON THE EXTINCTION RISK OF COASTERS .............................................................................. 24 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................................. 25 SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE RANGE ........................................................................................................................ 25 ADDITIONAL DPS ALTERNATIVE ANALYSES ................................................................................................................. 26 RECOMMENDATION .............................................................................................................................................. 27 UNCERTAINTY ........................................................................................................................................................ 27 DECISION ............................................................................................................................................................. 28 APPENDIX 1: ORIGINS & IMPORTANCE OF LIFE HISTORY FORMS ....................................................... 30 APPENDIX 2: ANALYSIS OF CONSEQUENCES OF 2 DPS OPTIONS ........................................................... 39 APPENDIX 3: POLICY INTERPRETATIONS OF THE DISCRETE & SIGNIFICANCE .............................. 41 APPENDIX 4: DISCRETE AND SIGNIFICANCE ANALYSIS FOR THE UPPER GREAT LAKES COASTER DPS ................................................................................................................................. 48 APPENDIX 5: SALMON TROUT RIVER/SOUTH SHORE LAKE SUPERIOR DPS ...................................... 56 APPENDIX 6: RISK ASSESSMENT ....................................................................................................................... 58 APPENDIX 7: EXPERT ELICITATION ................................................................................................................ 62 APPENDIX 7: LITERATURE CITED .................................................................................................................... 71 1 Decision Analysis for Evaluation of Coaster Brook Trout for Federal Listing Pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 Primary Author: Jennifer Szymanski Jessica Hogrefe, Henry Quinlan, and TJ Miller provided extensive review and comment. Portions of the document were taken directly from the petition finding, which was written by the Coaster Status Assessment Team and Jesse Wild (USFWS Washington Office). Coaster Status Assessment Team: Jessica Hogrefe (USFWS Region 3), Henry Quinlan (USFWS Region 3), TJ Miller (USFWS Region 3), Bill Ardren (USFWS Region 5), Mark Brouder (USFWS Region 3), and Jennifer Szymanski (USFWS Region 3). Purpose The purpose of this document is to describe and explain the various decisions that were made in reaching our May 19, 2009 finding on the petition to list the coaster brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) as endangered under the ESA. This document describes our biological considerations, policy interpretations, and legal precedents that we used in arriving at this finding. This document further outlines our decision making process, including our objectives, alternatives, and sources of uncertainty. Background The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) was petitioned to list the coaster brook trout pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA) in 2006. In March 2008, a positive 90-day finding was published indicating that the petition and the information contained within Service’s files suggest that the petitioned action warrants further evaluation. With this finding, the Service then must determine whether coaster brook trout warrants Federal protection under the ESA. Listing decisions are made by the Service as a whole, with the Director as the final decision making authority. The status assessment and all associated analyses are performed by either the field or regional office. Based on that analysis, the status assessment team then makes a recommendation on the listing decision to the Regional Director. Once approved by the Regional Director, the recommendation is then forwarded on to the Washington Office for further analysis, formatting, and editing. Once this process is complete, the Director then signs the document, making it a final agency decision. The decision is then made public via publication in the Federal Register. Legal Context - The Endangered Species Act of 1973 defines endangered as “any species that is in danger of extinction,” and threatened as “any species likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.” The term species is broadly defined as “any species, subspecies, or distinction population segment of a vertebrate species…” A distinct population segment (DPS) is defined in policy as a population segment that is discrete from other individuals of the species, and significant to the taxon. Regardless of taxonomic status, in practice, listed entities are afforded the same protections. By regulation, threatened entities are afforded the same protection 1 Coaster Brook Trout 12-Month Finding Decsion Document as endangered unless otherwise noted via a section 4(d) rule. In determining whether an entity is entitled to the protection of the ESA, the Service must first determine whether the entity qualifies as a “species,” and if so, whether it is endangered or threatened as defined by the ESA. Biological Context – The historical range of native brook trout extends along Hudson Bay across the Provinces of Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario in Canada, and from eastern Iowa through Wisconsin and the Great Lakes drainage, through the New England states south to Cape Cod, the Hudson River, Connecticut River and other large New England rivers and in coldwater streams of the Appalachian Mountains south to