[Coral-List] NOAA adds 20 corals to the Endangered Species List

[Jennifer Moore - NOAA Federal]

NOAA announced on August 27, 2014 its final determinations on our proposal
to list 66 corals and reclassify 2.  In total, 22 species of coral are now
protected as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, including the
two corals (elkhorn and staghorn) listed as threatened in 2006. Fifteen of
the newly listed species occur in the Indo-Pacific and five in the
Caribbean. None are found in Hawaii.  No species were listed as
"endangered."

The Endangered Species Act gives us some important tools to conserve and
recover those corals ​most in need of protection. The final decision to
list these 20 corals is a result of the most extensive rulemaking ever
undertaken by NOAA. The amount of scientific information sought, obtained,
and analyzed was unprecedented. This information included general
reef-building coral biology, habitat characteristics and threats, as well
as species-specific spatial, demographic, and other information for the
individual coral species in the final rule.

The final decision is a significant change from the proposed rule in
November 2012, which proposed listing 66 species (a mix of threatened and
endangered). We changed our determinations for many of the species for two
general reasons: (1) We received and gathered new general and species
specific information; and (2) Public comments helped us refine the way we
apply all the available information to determine vulnerability to
extinction of each species considered.

For more information on the next steps and supporting documents, please
visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2014/08/corals_listing.html  or
contact Lance Smith (lance.smith at noaa) in the Pacific Islands Region or
Jennifer Moore (jennifer.moore at noaa.gov) in the Southeast Region.

-- 

*Jennifer Moore
ESA Coral Coordinator | Protected Resources Division
NOAA Fisheries Service
263 13th Ave South
Saint Petersburg, FL 33701
727-551-5797 phone | 727-824-5309 fax
jennifer.moore at noaa.gov <jennifer.moore at noaa.gov>

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/esa/acropora.htm
<http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/esa/acropora.htm>*

*http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/esa/82CoralSpecies.htm*
<http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/esa/82CoralSpecies.htm>*

To those who sacrificed careers of adventure in the wide-open spaces
to wrestle for conservation in the policy arena.*