[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4303-4305]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00541]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF129


Addition of Species to the Annexes of the Protocol Concerning 
Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife in the Wider Caribbean Region

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: During a meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory 
Committee (STAC) under the Protocol to the Cartagena Convention on 
Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW Protocol), held in Miami, 
Florida in November 2016, twelve species of fauna were nominated and 
recommended to be added to the Annexes of the SPAW Protocol. The 
Department of State, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National 
Marine Fisheries Service solicit comment on the recommendations to add 
these twelve species to the Annexes.

DATES: Comments must be received by February 13, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the recommendations to add the 
twelve species to the Annexes of the SPAW Protocol, by including NOAA-
NMFS-2016-0166, by either of the following methods:

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     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0166. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Addition of Species to 
the Annexes of the SPAW Protocol, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13535, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910.
    Instructions: NMFS may not consider comments if they are sent by 
any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after 
the end of the comment period, may not be considered. All comments 
received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted 
for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal 
identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential 
business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted 
voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept 
anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields if you wish to 
remain anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chelsey Young, NOAA (301) 427-8491; 
[email protected]; and Rosemarie Gnam, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service (703) 358-1708; [email protected]. Persons who use a 
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339, 24 hours a day, 7 
days a week.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SPAW Protocol is a protocol to the 
Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment 
of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention or Convention). 
There is also a protocol to the Convention addressing land-based 
sources of pollution and a protocol addressing regional cooperation on 
oil pollution preparedness and response. The SPAW Protocol was adopted 
in 1990 and entered into force in 2000. The United States ratified the 
SPAW Protocol in 2003. There are currently 16 State Parties to the SPAW 
Protocol from throughout the Wider Caribbean Region.
    Participants at the November 2016 meeting of the STAC to the SPAW 
Protocol included representatives from: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, 
Belize, Colombia, Dominican Republic, France, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, 
the Netherlands, Saint Lucia, and the United States of America. 
Representatives of several non-governmental organizations also attended 
as observers.
    The U.S. delegation included representatives from the U.S. 
Department of State; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service and National Ocean 
Service. Copies of the official ``Recommendations of the Meeting,'' a 
full list of participants, and the text of the Cartagena Convention and 
SPAW Protocol can be obtained at www.cep.unep.org/meetings/2016-meetings/7th-spaw-stac.

Convention and Convention Area

    The Cartagena Convention is a regional agreement for the protection 
and development of the marine environment of the wider Caribbean. The 
Convention was adopted in 1983 and entered into force in 1986. The 
United States ratified the Convention in 1984. The Convention area 
includes the marine environment of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean 
Sea and the adjacent areas of the Atlantic Ocean south of lat. 30[deg] 
N. and within 200 nautical miles (nmi) of the Atlantic coasts of the 
Parties. The United States' responsibility within this Convention area 
includes: U.S. waters off of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and 
peninsular Florida, including the Atlantic coast; the waters off of a 
number of islands including coastal barrier islands and the Florida 
Keys; and the Gulf of Mexico waters under U.S. jurisdiction. The SPAW 
Protocol provides that each Party may designate related terrestrial 
areas over which they have sovereignty and jurisdiction (including 
watersheds) to be covered by the SPAW Protocol. The United States has 
not designated any terrestrial areas under the SPAW Protocol and ``does 
not intend to designate a terrestrial area under the Protocol unless 
requested to do so by an interested state or territory . . .'' (Senate 
Executive Report 107-8).

The Annexes and U.S. Obligations Under Each Annex

    The SPAW Protocol includes three Annexes. Plant species subject to 
the highest levels of protection are listed in Annex I, and animal 
species subject to the highest levels of protection are listed in Annex 
II. Plants and animals subject to some management, but lesser 
protections than those afforded to species listed in Annexes I or II, 
are listed in Annex III.
    Annexes I (flora) and II (fauna) are to include endangered and 
threatened species, or subspecies, or their populations as well as rare 
species. The SPAW Protocol describes rare species as those ``that are 
rare because they are usually localized within restricted geographical 
areas or habitats or are thinly scattered over a more extensive range 
and which are potentially or actually subject to decline and possible 
endangerment or extinction.''
    For fauna listed in Annex II, Parties ``shall ensure total 
protection and recovery to the species . . . by prohibiting: (i) The 
taking, possession or killing (including, to the extent possible, the 
incidental taking, possession or killing) or commercial trade in such 
species, their eggs, parts or products; [and] (ii) to the extent 
possible, the disturbance of such species, particularly during periods 
of breeding, incubation, estivation or migration, as well as other 
periods of biological stress.''
    For Annex III species, the SPAW Protocol states: ``Each Party shall 
adopt appropriate measures to ensure the protection and recovery of the 
species of flora and fauna listed in Annex III and may regulate the use 
of such species in order to ensure and maintain their populations at 
the highest possible levels.'' Therefore, some regulated harvest may be 
permitted for species on Annex III. The protective provisions of this 
Annex are not intended to be more restrictive than the provisions of 
Annexes I and II.
    The United States ratified the SPAW Protocol, including Annexes, 
subject to certain reservations, including the following with respect 
to Article 11(1): ``The United States does not consider itself bound by 
Article 11(1) of the [SPAW] Protocol to the extent that United States 
law permits the limited taking of flora and fauna listed in Annexes I 
and II [ ] which is incidental, or [ ] for the purpose of public 
display, scientific research, photography for educational or commercial 
purposes, or rescue and rehabilitation.''
    The United States has not designated any terrestrial area under the 
SPAW Protocol. As the United States explained at the time the SPAW 
Protocol was ratified, ``The United States does not plan to designate 
terrestrial area under the Protocol since no state or territory has 
identified a need or desire to designate terrestrial area. . . .'' 
(Senate Treaty Document 103-5). In addition, ``Several terrestrial 
species, e.g. bats (Tadarida brasiliensis and Brachyphylla cavernarum) 
and falcons (Falco peregrinus), are listed in the Annexes. The listing 
of these species, however, is not intended to describe the relevant 
terrestrial scope of the Protocol. As the United States has not 
designated any terrestrial area, the Protocol obligations will not 
apply with respect to such species.'' Id.

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Summary of Annexes

    Annex I contains a total of 53 plant species. All plant species on 
Annex I are either: (1) Listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act 
(ESA); (2) endemic to Florida and protected under Florida law; (3) 
occur only on Federal land and are fully protected where they occur; 
(4) are not native to the United States, and are listed in the 
Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered 
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) where primarily commercial 
trade would be prohibited; or (5) are not native to, nor believed to be 
commercially imported into the United States. 56 FR 12026, 12028 (March 
21, 1991). There have been no additions to Annex I since the adoption 
of the SPAW Protocol.
    Annex II currently contains 114 species and 3 groups of species, 
including all sea turtles and all marine mammals in the region. Most of 
these animal species are either: (1) Listed under the U.S. Endangered 
Species Act or the Marine Mammal Protection Act; (2) are not native to 
the United States and are listed in Appendix I of CITES; (3) are 
offered complete protection by domestic legislation in all range States 
(whereby the Lacey Act, among other things, prohibits commercial trade 
in specimens taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of 
foreign law); or (4) are endemic to foreign countries and are not 
commercially imported into the United States. Six new species were 
added to Annex II by the SPAW Parties in December 2014. Id.
    Annex III currently contains 43 species of plants and 32 species of 
animals in addition to species of corals, mangroves, and sea-grasses 
that occur in the region.

Composition of the Annexes

    The plant and animal species present on each Annex can be found 
here: http://www.car-spaw-rac.org/?Annexes-of-the-SPAW-Protocol,83.

Species Recommended by SPAW STAC To Be Added to the SPAW Protocol 
Annexes

                                Annex II
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                  Species                            Common name
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                                  BIRDS
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  Passerina ciris.........................  Painted bunting.
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                                  FISH
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  Pristis pectinata.......................  Smalltooth sawfish.
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                                Annex III
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                  Species                            Common name
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                                 SNAILS
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  Liguus fasciatus........................  Florida tree snail.
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                             SHARKS AND RAYS
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  Manta birostris, Manta alfredi, Manta     Manta rays.
   sp. cf. birostris.
  Sphyrna lewini, Sphyrna mokarran,         Hammerheads.
   Sphyrna zygaena.
Carcharhinus longimanus...................  Oceanic whitetip shark.
Rhincodon typus...........................  Whale shark.
Epinephelus striatus......................  Nassau grouper.
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Circumstances of SPAW STAC Recommendations

    Article 11(4) of the SPAW Protocol details the requirements for 
amending the Annexes and states, in part, that a Party may submit a 
nomination of a species for inclusion in or deletion from the Annexes; 
that the Party shall submit supporting documentation; and that the SPAW 
STAC shall review the nomination. At the November 2016 meeting in 
Miami, Florida, the SPAW STAC reviewed the species proposed by Parties 
for listing under the SPAW Protocol and made recommendations to the 
ninth SPAW Conference of the Parties (COP9) meeting, expected to be 
held in March 2017. The STAC determined that the procedures for 
nominating species and the supporting documentation were satisfactory 
for positive recommendations to the COP regarding the species 
identified above.

Species Under the Jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service

    Ten of the twelve species that were recommended by the STAC to be 
added to the Annexes at the November 2016 meeting fall under the 
jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The 
majority of the species under NMFS' jurisdiction have been recommended 
to be added to Annex III and include manta rays (Manta birostris, M. 
alfredi, and M. c.f. birostris), hammerhead sharks (Sphynra lewini, S. 
mokarran, and S. zygaena), the oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus 
longimanus), the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), and the Nassau grouper 
(Epinephelus striatus). The Nassau grouper is listed as a threatened 
species under the ESA. One species of fish, the smalltooth sawfish 
(Pristis pectinata), has been recommended to be added to Annex II. The 
smalltooth sawfish is currently listed as endangered under the ESA, and 
was originally listed under the ESA in 2003.

Species Under the Jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

    Two of the twelve species that were recommended by the STAC to be 
added to the Annexes at the November 2016 Miami meeting fall under the 
jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). One bird 
species, the Painted bunting (Passerina ciris) has been recommended to 
be added to Annex II. One snail species, the Florida tree snail (Liguus 
fasciatus), has been recommended to be added to Annex III.
    Both the Painted bunting and the Florida tree snail are terrestrial 
species. As explained earlier in this Notice, the United States has not 
designated any terrestrial area under the SPAW Protocol and the 
obligations under the SPAW Protocol do not apply in the United States 
with respect to terrestrial species. Accordingly, no obligations under 
the SPAW Protocol would apply to these two terrestrial species if they 
are added to the SPAW Annexes.

Comments Solicited

    The Department of State, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and 
National Marine Fisheries Service solicit comments and information that 
will inform the United States' consideration of the potential listing 
of these twelve species in the SPAW Annexes.

    Dated: January 9, 2017.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-00541 Filed 1-12-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P