Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Banggai Cardinalfish Proposed for Listing Under the Endangered Species Act

Imperiled Fish, in Demand for the Aquarium Trade, Will Receive Needed Protections
Contact: Taylor Jones (720) 443-2615

Washington, DC—Todaythe National Marine Fisheries Service (Service) announced that it will list theBanggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni)as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in response to a 2013 petitionfrom WildEarth Guardians.

“Providingprotections for the Banggai cardinalfish is crucial because demand for aquariumfish in the United States is a chief cause of this imperiled species’ decline,”said Taylor Jones, endangered species advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “Thesebeautiful fish deserve a chance to recover in their wild homes, and should not berelegated to tiny tanks for people’s entertainment.”

The cardinalfishis the tenth most common aquarium fish imported into the United States. Afternearly two decades of intensive capture, populations of cardinalfish in theirnative habitat—the Banggai Archipelago of Indonesia—have drastically shrunk. Incombination with destruction and fragmentation of the species’ small range andclimate change impacts on coral reefs, human exploitation puts these fish atrisk of extinction.

The ESA does notyet completely protect these fish, however. For species listed as “threatened” ratherthan “endangered,” the Service can decide whether or not to extend certain protections;prohibitions on killing, harming, or harassing a listed species. For thecardinalfish, the Service announced it will consider additional regulations ina future rule. For now, there will be no change in regulations governing tradeor possession of cardinalfish.

“The Serviceshould quickly finalize regulations prohibiting removal of these beautiful fishfrom the wild,” continued Jones. “Endangered Species Act protection will meanmuch less for these fish if it does not address the main threat: collectionfrom the wild for the aquarium trade.”

WildEarth Guardians submitted a petition to 81 marine species andsubpopulations under the ESA in July of 2013, including the Banggaicardinalfish, due to the significant threats to our oceans. An estimated 50-80 percent of all life on earth is found inthe oceans. More than half of marine species may be at risk of extinction by2100 without significant conservation efforts. Despite this grave situation,the U.S. largely fails to protect marine species under the ESA. Of the 2,245 species protected under the Act, only 130 (aboutsix percent) are marine species.

Recognizingthe decline of ocean health, on July 22, 2010 President Obama issued anExecutive Order requiring agencies, including the National Marine FisheriesService, to “protect, maintain, and restore the health and biological diversityof ocean… ecosystems,” and to “use the best available science and knowledgeto inform decisions affecting the ocean.” Guardians’ multi-species marine petitionsought to compel the Service to live up to this mandate. Protection under theESA is an effective safety net for imperiled species: more than 99 percent ofplants and animals protected by the law exist today.

The law is especially important as a defense againstthe current extinction crisis; species are disappearing at a rate much higherthan the natural rate of extinction due to human activities. Scientistsestimate that 227 species would have gone extinct by 2006 if not for ESAprotections. Listing species with globaldistributions can protect them from trade and help focus U.S. resources towardenforcement of international regulations and recovery of the species.

photo: single cardinalfish Peter Halasz, Flickr, Creative Commons

photo: group of cardinalfish Jens Petersen, Flickr, Creative Commons