Contacts
Heather Bell
413/253-8645
Diana Weaver
413/253-8329
Georgia Parham
812/334-4261 x 203
The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service in coordination with the National Marine Fisheries Service
has completed its evaluation of the petition to list the American eel as
either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act and determined
that substantial biological information exists to warrant a more in-depth
examination of its status. This finding will commence with a status review
of the species, and once the review is complete, the Services will determine
whether to propose listing the species.
“During
the review, a comment period will serve as an invitation to provide biological
information so we will have all the best available scientific information
on which to base decisions,” the Fish and Wildlife Service’s
Northeast Regional Director Marvin Moriarty said.
The American
eel lives from Greenland south along the North American coast to Brazil in
South America. In the United States it lives inland to the Great Lakes and
in the Mississippi River drainage.
Today’s decision, commonly known as a 90-Day Finding, is based on scientific
information about the species provided in the petition requesting listing of
the species under the Act. The finding is published in today’s Federal
Register. The finding on the petition does not mean that the Services have
decided it is appropriate to list the American eel. Rather, this finding is
the first step in a long process that triggers a more thorough review of all
the biological information available. This process, which includes a request
for input from the public, should be completed within 12 months of receiving
the petition. This status review will determine whether the American eel warrants
protection.
To ensure
this status review is comprehensive, the Services are soliciting information
from State and Federal natural resource agencies, tribes, other countries,
and interested parties regarding the American eel.
Based on the
status review, the Services jointly will decide if listing is warranted.
If listing is not warranted, no further action will be taken.
If listing
is warranted, one of the Services will publish a proposal to list, solicit
independent scientific peer review of the proposal, seek input from the public,
and consider the input before a final decision is made about listing the
species. Generally, there is a one-year period between the time a species
is proposed and the final decision.
The only freshwater
eel in the Western hemisphere, American eels begin their lives in the mid-Atlantic
Sargasso Sea. About a year later, they migrate to freshwater rivers and lakes
and coastal areas where they live for seven to 30 years. At maturity, eels
return to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and die. Because the eel spends a portion
of its life in the marine environment and a portion of its life in freshwater,
it falls under the responsibilities of both agencies, so they work together
on the issue.
Douglas Harold
Watts of Augusta, Maine, and Timothy Allan Watts of South Middleborough,
Mass., petitioned the two Services to extend ESA protection to the American
eel. Prior to receiving the petition, the Services had already agreed to
review the American eel status at the request of the Atlantic States Marine
Fisheries Commission (representing 15 states from Maine to Florida) in light
of an apparent decline in commercial eel harvest.
Anyone wishing
to submit information regarding the American eel may do so by writing to:
Martin Miller, Chief, Endangered Species, Northeast Regional Office, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, MA 01035 or
by electronic mail to: AmericanEel@fws.gov .
Comments must be received by Sept. 4, 2005.
For more information
about the American eel and this finding, please visit the Fish and Wildlife
Service’s Web site at <http://northeast.fws.gov/ameel/>.
The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving,
protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for
the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre
National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife
refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas.
It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices
and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife
laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations,
restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife
habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments
with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance
program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes
on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and
preserving our nation’s living marine resources and their habitat through
scientific research, management and enforcement. NOAA Fisheries Service provides
effective stewardship of these resources for the benefit of the nation, supporting
coastal communities that depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and
healthy seafood to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American
public.
-FWS-
| 
