[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 3, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13006-13008]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06416]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XG849


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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 Panama 
City, Panama in December 2018, two animal species were nominated and 
recommended to be added to the Annexes of the SPAW Protocol. The 
Department of State and NMFS solicit comment on the recommendations to 
add these two species to the Annexes.

DATES: Comments must be received by May 3, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the recommendations to add the 
two species to the Annexes of the SPAW Protocol, identified by NOAA-
NMFS-2019-0020, by either of the following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2019-0020. 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: Comments 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. Anonymous comments will be 
accepted (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]. 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 countries that are 
Parties to the SPAW Protocol from throughout the Wider Caribbean 
Region.
    Participants at the December 2018 meeting of the STAC to the SPAW 
Protocol included representatives from:

[[Page 13007]]

Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Curacao, Dominican Republic, France, 
Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Panama, Saint Lucia, 
Trinidad and Tobago, the United States of America, and Venezuela. 
Representatives of several non-governmental organizations also attended 
as observers.
    The U.S. delegation included representatives from the U.S. 
Department of State and NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) 
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 http://www.cep.unep.org/meetings/2018-meetings/8th-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 
Region. 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[ordm] 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 U.S. 
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.''
    Under Article 11(1), 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.''
    Also under Article 11(1), 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.''

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; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); (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 
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 116 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 ESA or the Marine 
Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.); (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 
countries (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.
    Annex III currently contains 43 species of plants and 42 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 included on each Annex can be found at 
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Species                            Common name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  FISH
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pristis pristis...........................  Largetooth sawfish.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                Annex III
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Species                            Common name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Sharks
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charcharhinus falciformis.................  Silky shark.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

[[Page 13008]]

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 December 
2018 meeting, the SPAW STAC reviewed the species proposed by Parties 
for listing under the SPAW Protocol and made recommendations to the 
tenth SPAW Conference of the Parties (COP10) meeting, expected to be 
held in June 2019. 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

    Both species recommended by the STAC to be added to the Annexes at 
the December 2018 meeting fall under the jurisdiction of NMFS. One 
species of fish, the largetooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), has been 
recommended to be added to Annex II. The largetooth sawfish is 
currently listed as endangered under the ESA, and was originally listed 
under the ESA in 2011. The other species under NMFS' jurisdiction, the 
silky shark (Charcharhinus falciformis) has been recommended to be 
added to Annex III.

Comments Solicited

    The Department of State and NMFS solicit comments and information 
that will inform the United States' consideration of the potential 
listing of these species in the SPAW Annexes.

    Dated: March 28, 2019.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-06416 Filed 4-2-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P