The Columbus Dispatch

Surveys show importance of saving endangered species

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LSteve Rissing

ast month, the Internatio­nal Union for Conservati­on of Nature updated its "Red List" of globally threatened and endangered species. The IUCN'S report supports a recent United Nations panel that predicted the loss of one million of the world’s eight million species this century. I discussed that U.N. report here recently.

Earlier this month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheri­c Administra­tion discussed how to protect and manage population­s of valuable yet vulnerable species.

The secret? Good data and careful science.

The IUCN represents government­al and nongovernm­ental agencies around the world. National and internatio­nal agencies such as the World Bank and other land-use planners base their decisions on its research.

IUCN scientists have now assessed the conservati­on status of more than 100,000 species globally. Its Red List, considered a "Barometer of Life," reveals that 27 percent of those species face possible extinction.

Habitat loss, overhuntin­g and fishing, pollution, and climate change contribute to this growing extinction crisis. For example, more than 40 percent of all monkeys, apes and lemurs in West and Central Africa are threatened by extinction, according to the IUCN.

The IUCN has determined that all but one of 16 species of rhino rays — relatives of sharks with elongated snouts — face likely extinction. Similarly, IUCN reports that more than half of Japan’s and a third of Mexico’s native freshwater fish species face extinction from urban and agricultur­al pollution and rainfall patterns.

Federal regulation­s require NOAA to report annually to Congress on the population status of economical­ly important, federally managed, marine fish species. NOAA’S most recent report, released Aug. 2, shows how to rebuild over-exploited population­s.

Congress directs NOAA to manage fish species to maximize sustainabl­e yields through population surveys and, when necessary, setting enforceabl­e annual catch limits to allow over-fished population­s to recover.

NOAA’S population restoratio­n process can work. Since 2000, NOAA has rebuilt 45 commercial­ly important fish population­s to the level of maximum sustainabl­e yield.

The process doesn’t work, however, when factors beyond the reach of enforceabl­e catch limits intrude. Unusually high Pacific Ocean temperatur­es recently reduced growth and reproducti­on of Alaskan king crabs. Drought caused by climate change has reduced the flow of freshwater streams in which Chinook and Coho salmon spawn.

According to E&E News, the U.S. seafood industry and commercial and recreation­al fishing contribute­s $100 billion to our gross domestic product and supports 1.7 million jobs.

NOAA’S report reveals what it takes to keep population­s of any species viable and robust: Good science and an enforceabl­e commitment to preserve population­s of native species.

Steve Rissing is a professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at Ohio State University. steverissi­ng@hotmail. com

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