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Protected Resources Division Caribbean Field Office

Learn about conservation activities, partnerships, and regulatory aspects involving endangered species and crucial habitats in the Caribbean. Discover efforts focused on sea turtles, marine mammals, corals, and coral reef ecosystem restoration.

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Protected Resources Division Caribbean Field Office

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  1. SoutheastRegion Protected Resources Division Caribbean Field Office Dr. Lisamarie Carrubba November 2009

  2. Endangered Species Act (ESA) • Activities include • Status reviews for listing, delisting, changes in listing, recovery planning and implementation • Section 6 partnerships with states and territories • Section 7 consultations • Section 9 (through Office of Law Enforcement) • Section 10 permits, conservation agreements

  3. Regulatory Aspect • Review of proposed water resources development projects to determine whether projects will adversely affect NMFS’ trust resources • Section 7 consultation process large part of this in partnership with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

  4. Section 7 • Consultation required for projects with a federal nexus, including • Federal funds • Federal agency as proponent • Federal permit requirement (such as for fill in wetlands, construction of in-water structures, waste discharges, dredging, etc.) or licensing requirement (such as FERC for hydropower) • Most commonly COE and EPA consult on actions • Trainings for federal agencies regarding the consultation process and section 7(a)(1) responsibilities • Partner with PR and USVI agencies

  5. Listed Sea Turtles • Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) - endangered • Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) – threatened (in U.S. Caribbean) • Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) – endangered • Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) - threatened D. Shea S. Benson M. Sharer M. Guiliano

  6. Sea Turtle Designated Critical Habitat • 3 nm around Sandy Point, Saint Croix - leatherback • 3 nm around Culebra and its surrounding islands and cays - green • 3 nm Mona and Monito Islands - hawksbill

  7. Listed Marine Mammals • Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) • Endangered • Fin (or finback) whale (B. physalus) • Endangered • Humpback whale (Megaptera novaengliae) • Endangered • Sei whale (B. borealis) • Endangered • Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) • Endangered

  8. Threatened Corals • Staghorn and elkhorn corals listed as threatened in 2006 • 4(d) rule establishing “take” prohibitions went into effect on November 21, 2008 • Designated critical habitat final rule went into effect on December 26, 2008 E. Otero Exceptions to CH: man-made structures, maintained channels, and existing marinas

  9. NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program • Caribbean Field Office houses SERO Coordinator for CRCP • Projects in FL, PR, and USVI through SERO PRD and Field Offices in Puerto Rico and West Palm Beach • Efforts focus on education and outreach, coral reef ecosystem restoration, and strengthening of management efforts for coral reef ecosystem protection

  10. CRCP Partnerships • Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park - hurricane moorings and promoting awareness regarding anchoring regulations • Comite de los Vecinos de La Parguera – special use buoys in shallow seagrass beds and laminated sheet for recreational boaters • Caborrojeños – Coral Reef Atlas for Cabo Rojo • UPRM, Marine Sciences – integrating current studies in coral reef characterization to locate important reef fish habitat

  11. CRCP Partnerships • DNER, CFMC, PRDA, DPNR DFW and DEE, UVI, Sea Grant, FURA, USCG, OLE – workshops for commercial and recreational fishers in PR and USVI and creation of educational materials targeting fishers; workshops for law enforcement officers, field and classroom training, and educational materials • DNER, DPNR – MPA protection (habitat use characterization; moorings, markers, special use buoys; educational materials; restoration

  12. CRCP Partnerships • PR Tourism Company, PR National Parks Company – educational materials for tourists and signs at public beaches • Vieques Conservation and Historic Trust – interactive educational exhibit • St. Croix Environmental Association – marine learning modules and mobile learning lab • DPNR DFW – revision of commercial fishing regs and creation of recreational fishing regs; gill and trammel net buy-back

  13. CRCP Partnerships • Sociedad Ambiente Marino – establishment of monofilament fishing line recycling program • 4-H Club, GeoAmbiente – animated lessons for elementary schools • Coastal Municipalities in PR, COE, FWS, EPA, DPNR, DNER, PRPB, EQB, USCG, VI Small Business – guidelines for coastal development • CFMC, OLE, DNER, TSA, USDA, Customs and Border Patrol, American Airlines Latitudes magazine, Continental magazine, Royal Caribbean, VINE, SEA, CS Agent – Caribbean Reef Etiquette video and education efforts to curb illegal souvenir collection

  14. Other CRCP Efforts • Bilingual videos and PSAs for grouper conservation, coral reef and associated habitat conservation for PR and USVI; Aventuras Marinas con NOAA segment on Turismo en Borinquen program in PR • Bilingual scientific permitting requirements for researchers in Puerto Rico working in coral reef ecosystem • Bilingual coral reef ecosystem coloring book for elementary schools and bilingual CD for high schools in PR and USVI • Bilingual guide for recreational users of the coral reef ecosystem

  15. Other SERO Presence in PR and USVI • Office of Law Enforcement – agents in Guaynabo and Aguadilla • enforcement of laws that protect and regulate our living marine resources and their habitat (Magnuson-Stevens, ESA, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Lacey Act); joint enforcement agreements in PR and USVI • Restoration Center • fund and implement restoration projects and evaluate success, engage the local community; participates in the NOAA CRCP; contractor position for grounding response in PR and USVI

  16. Major Issues • Lack of data on sea turtle nesting and sea turtles in the water (various life stages, habitat utilization, whether designated CH is adequate) • Recovery plan process on-going for listed corals • Petition from CBD to list 83 species of corals, 8 of which are in our region • Vessel grounding impacts to reefs – far more common than anticipated so what are cumulative impacts? • Souvenir collection of corals • Coastal development – BMPs, including in response to climate change and listed species conservation

  17. For More Information • Southeast Regional Office: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov • Protected Resources: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pr.htm • Acropora Coordinator: Jennifer Moore (Jennifer.Moore@noaa.gov, 727-824-5312) • NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program: http://coralreef.noaa.gov/

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