[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]
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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.
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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 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:
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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
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Species Common name
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FISH
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Pristis pristis........................... Largetooth sawfish.
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Annex III
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Species Common name
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Sharks
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Charcharhinus falciformis................. Silky shark.
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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
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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]
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