Protected species and NC commercial fisheries : observers and federal permits maintain access to traditional fisheries

UNC-SG-15-03 ^BLUEPRINTS North Carolina NORTH CAROLINA SEA GRANT NC STATE UNIVERSITY BOX 8605 RALEIGH, NC 27695-8605 Protected Species and NC Commercial Fisheries: Observers and Federal Permits Maintain Access to Traditional Fisheries By Sara Mirabilio and Scott Baker Protecting Imperiled Species If a plant or animal is facing severe population loss, the species can be protected through listing under the federal Endangered Species Act, or ESA. Plants or animals close to extinction become classified as "endangered.” The second-most severe conservation status is "threatened.” Once listed, a "take” of an endangered or threatened species without a federal government permit is illegal, regardless of who you are or the business you are conducting. This law applies to even those activities that happen on private or public lands in North Carolina or in state waters. A take is to "harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect a protected species.” The federal government may make an exception and allow a small number of incidental takes during a lawful activity if a permit applicant develops an acceptable species conservation plan. Through what’s called an Incidental Take Permit, or ITP, federal scientists allot a number of incidental takes, called an authorized take limit, which will not greatly reduce the recovery rate of a protected species. For coastal and marine species, such as those shown in Figure 1, the permit applicant must provide scientific justification and data to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service, known as NMFS, to help officials decide the number of incidental takes to authorize under the ITP. Steps to Maintain a Fishery In July and November 2009, NMFS notified the State of North Carolina that its estuarine gill net fisheries for southern flounder would be subject to federal closure unless the state addressed unauthorized takes of sea turtles occurring in the fisheries. Further, in January [endangered] Kemp's Ridley HR EATEN Loggerhead Green Figure 1. In North Carolina coastal waters, two species of fishes and five species of sea turtles are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, or ESA. Each protected species appears above, grouped by its ESA status — endangered or threatened. Endangered species occur much lessfreguently in N.C. coastal waters than threatened species. Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, www.fws.gov/raleigh/es_tes.html. Illustrations copyright Garth Mix (turtles), Duane Raver (sturgeon). 1