In support of maintaining the standard of comprehensive and accurate reporting that we all value so much in this publication, we would like to offer a few corrections and additions to the article entitled “Groups Seek Federal Listing For Black-footed Albatross” published in April 2008. Mr. Paul Dalzell’s evaluation of the quality and quantity of data available for use in making a scientifically informed decision about listing the species appears to have been made without any actual information about those data. In fact, it may be impossible to name any other vertebrate with a similar world population size and life history for which so much is known. [Dalzell is the senior scientist for the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council.]
Over 75 percent of the entire global breeding population of this species is directly counted each year and has been since 1991 at three of the birds’ most important nesting islands and atolls (Midway, Laysan, and French Frigate Shoals). Many thousands of these albatrosses have been banded at each of these sites since the early 1960s, and a mark-recapture study involving the resighting of 2,000 adult breeders every year at each of these three breeding colonies is giving us very good information about changes in adult survival. This study was designed by some of the nation’s most respected avian demographers. The stability of the population in the face of all the anthropogenic stresses affecting it is the subject of an intensive status assessment due to come out very shortly after undergoing a rigorous peer-review process.
Mr. Dalzell’s assertion that “There seems to be no correlation between black-footed albatross populations and longline growth” is not supported by a recent paper by Veran and her colleagues. Their findings supported the idea that longline fishing has an impact on the Black-footed Albatross population by demonstrating a significant relationship between adult survival and longline fishing effort. (Veran et al. 2007. Quantifying the impact of longline fisheries on adult survival in the black-footed albatross. Journal of Applied Ecology 44:942-952.)
Regarding the regulatory process for addressing petitions under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), we would like to provide some clarification and additional information. Our review of petitions is limited to determining whether or not the petitioners have provided substantial information that the species in question is facing one or more threats to its continued existence. Our evaluation is conducted in accordance with federal regulations (50 CFR 424.14(b)), which provide a clear standard of scientific accuracy and documentation that must be met for information in a petition to be determined “substantial.” We found that the petitioner had indeed provided reliable, substantial information on several threats to the Black-footed Albatross, and these are not limited to mortality in the Hawai`i-based pelagic longline fishery. That finding (along with a detailed analysis of the petition) was published in the Federal Register, and can be found at [url=http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html]http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html[/url] by employing a simple search for “page 57278” in Volume 72 (2007). This published notice included the opening of a 60-day public comment period on our finding, during which time all interested parties were welcome and encouraged to provide information. With the publication of our finding, we initiated the next step in the process: a review of all available information to determine whether listing the Black-footed Albatross under the ESA is warranted. This review, now underway, will consider all comments and scientific information received during the comment period, the comprehensive, peer-reviewed status assessment of the species that currently is nearing completion, and other information in our files. The results of our review will be published in the Federal Register as well.
We hope that this additional information about study and monitoring of the Black-footed Albatross and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s process under federal regulations for making listing determinations provides an improved understanding of this issue for the readers of Environment Hawai`i.
Beth Flint, Ph.D.
Holly Freifeld, Ph.D.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Volume 18, Number 11 may 2008
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