In the January 22, 2010 Federal Register NOAA/NMFS published their determination on the Reef Rescue petition requesting the expansion of the critical habitat designation to include ESA listed staghorn coral colonies offshore of the Town of Palm Beach.
NMFS said “the process of designating the current critical habitat for elkhorn and staghorn corals consumed significant personnel resources (i.e., 1.5 fulltime employees) for the better part of a 2year period. Were we to undertake a revision [as requested by Reef Rescue] of the recently designated critical habitat, our limited resources would again be diverted from other work, which in turn would delay the completion of other priorities, yet would only realize a very small change (offering limited benefits) in the critical habitat area for one of the coral species…
We [NMFS] also note that we are currently working to implement our mandatory obligations under the statute regarding a recently received petition to list 83 species of corals as endangered or threatened, 8 of which co-occur in the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans with staghorn and elkhorn corals, and to designate critical habitat for these species.”
Reef Rescue adds it is important to understand the staghorn coral colonies offshore of Palm Beach and elsewhere (in US waters) are still afforded full protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). South of the Boynton Inlet the staghorn colonies as well as the coral reef habitat are federally protected. Reef Rescue volunteer divers will continue to survey the local reefs for new staghorn coral locations.
Reef Rescue is disappointed with the ruling and had hoped the NMFS determination would have been based on the best available science rather than on their workload. We are currently reviewing our legal options regarding this matter.
Link to January 22, 2010 Federal Register:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/
Read Palm Beach Post:
Town officials cheer the news that rare species won’t get added federal safeguards: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Other Reef Rescue staghorn coral blogs:
http://reefrescue.wordpress.com/
