Should the Eastern Oyster be Listed Under the ESA? Should the Eastern Oyster be Listed Under the ESA?
Washington, DC – The House Resources Committee will convene tomorrow for a hearing on the “Potential Listing of the Eastern Oyster Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).” The hearing will begin at 2:00 p.m. in 1324 Longworth House Office Building.
“The petition to list the eastern oyster raises a number of issues relevant to the effort to update the ESA,” said committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA). “Listing the oyster across its entire range will devastate the fishing industry and may not actually increase the species numbers in problem areas.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) received a petition requesting eastern oysters be protected under the ESA in Jan. 2005. Since then, NMFS has decided to do a status review of the species to determine if it warrants listing.
The petition only provided information regarding threats to and the harvest of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, where the species numbers have been significantly reduced. Other populations in the oyster’s range, namely in the Gulf of Mexico, are stable or increasing.
To be eligible for listing under the ESA, an invertebrate like the eastern oyster would have to be listed across its entire range: the eastern coast of Canada, the Atlantic Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico to the Yucatan Peninsula. Under law, invertebrate species are ineligible for listing as distinct population segments.
The petition to list the eastern oyster comes in light of new information showing that a majority of listed species, approximately 77 percent, fall into the 0 to 25 percent recovery achieved category. Other government data suggests that nearly 60 percent of listed species are of unknown or declining status.
“The ESA desperately needs an update and a renewed focus on species recovery,” continued Pombo. “Its dismal recovery rate over the past thirty years gives little hope to species truly in need of protection.”
The Resources Committee, under Pombo’s leadership, is working on comprehensive legislation that will strengthen the ESA’s recovery numbers and move endangered and threatened species away from the brink of extinction and back to healthy, vibrant populations.
Washington, DC – The House Resources Committee will convene tomorrow for a hearing on the “Potential Listing of the Eastern Oyster Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).” The hearing will begin at 2:00 p.m. in 1324 Longworth House Office Building.
“The petition to list the eastern oyster raises a number of issues relevant to the effort to update the ESA,” said committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA). “Listing the oyster across its entire range will devastate the fishing industry and may not actually increase the species numbers in problem areas.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) received a petition requesting eastern oysters be protected under the ESA in Jan. 2005. Since then, NMFS has decided to do a status review of the species to determine if it warrants listing.
The petition only provided information regarding threats to and the harvest of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, where the species numbers have been significantly reduced. Other populations in the oyster’s range, namely in the Gulf of Mexico, are stable or increasing.
To be eligible for listing under the ESA, an invertebrate like the eastern oyster would have to be listed across its entire range: the eastern coast of Canada, the Atlantic Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico to the Yucatan Peninsula. Under law, invertebrate species are ineligible for listing as distinct population segments.
The petition to list the eastern oyster comes in light of new information showing that a majority of listed species, approximately 77 percent, fall into the 0 to 25 percent recovery achieved category. Other government data suggests that nearly 60 percent of listed species are of unknown or declining status.
“The ESA desperately needs an update and a renewed focus on species recovery,” continued Pombo. “Its dismal recovery rate over the past thirty years gives little hope to species truly in need of protection.”
The Resources Committee, under Pombo’s leadership, is working on comprehensive legislation that will strengthen the ESA’s recovery numbers and move endangered and threatened species away from the brink of extinction and back to healthy, vibrant populations.
