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

Thursday, July 28, 2016
Conservationists Challenge Failure to Protect Imperiled Queen Conch

Marine Animal Threatened by Human Consumption, Pollution, Habitat Degradation
Contact: Taylor Jones, (720) 443-2615, tjones@wildearthguardians.org

Additional Contact:

Jennifer Best, Friends of Animals, 720-949-7791or jennifer@friendsofanimals.org

Washington, D.C.– Yesterday, WildEarth Guardians and Friends of Animals sued the NationalMarine Fisheries Service’s over the agency’s refusal to protect the imperiled queenconch (Strombusgigas) under theEndangered Species Act (ESA). WildEarth Guardians submitted a petition to listthe conch on March 1, 2012 based on the threats to the species from pollution,habitat degradation and human consumption. Though the Fisheries Serviceinitially found the petition had merit, it ultimately decided not to list theconch on Nov. 5, 2014 based on a deeply flawed analysis which ignores theadvice of the agency’s own experts. The finding fails to recognize thecontinuing impacts of heavy human exploitation and the fact that 85 percent ofconch populations may already be too small to successfully reproduce.

“The best available science clearly shows conch are in deeptrouble, and the government’s decision is wrong,” said Taylor Jones, endangeredspecies advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “The government is completelyignoring science telling us that over half of conch populations are the‘walking dead,’ meaning that populations are too small to reproduce and theadults are just waiting to die.”

The queen conch is a large mollusk known for its distinctiveflared spiral shell with blunt spikes and a pearly pink or orange interior. Thespecies can grow to 12 inches in shell-length and weigh up to five pounds. The queenconch occurs throughout the Caribbean Sea andGulf of Mexico, from Bermuda and Florida in the northern extent of its range,to Brazil in the south. Conch are prized for theirmeat and their large shells, and are commercially harvested in 25 countries.The United States is the largest importer of queen conch, importingapproximately 78 percent of the queen conch meat in international trade (about2,000 to 2,500 tons annually).

Queen conch have already been so heavily exploited in manyareas that a viable fishery no longer exists, yet the population continues tobe steadily depleted. The suit challenges the agency’s failure to follow thebest available science, as required by the Endangered Species Act. Sixtypercent of measured populations are below the minimum number required for successfulreproduction, meaning these populations will most likely wink out over time.

“We can not stand by while the government ignoresthe overwhelming evidence that queen conch need protection from humanexploitation,” said Jennifer Best, Assistant Director of Friends of Animals’Wildlife Law Program. “We are filing the lawsuit so the conch can get theprotection they deserve.”

Queen conch are found primarily in seagrass beds, which areimportant ecosystems that provide food, shelter, and nursery grounds to myriadfish and invertebrate species. Seagrasses, highly sensitive to water quality,are key indicator species reflecting the health of coastal ecosystems. Someresearchers have compared seagrass beds to tropical rainforests based on theirhigh productivity, structural complexity, and biodiversity. Queen conch play avital role in shaping these communities, principally by consuming seagrassdetritus (dead and decomposing seagrass). The loss or substantial decrease of queenconch may cause significant, harmful changes in the ecosystem.

An estimated50-80 percent of all life on Earth is found in the oceans. More than half ofmarine species may be at risk of extinction by 2100 without significantconservation efforts. Despite this grave situation, the U.S. largely fails toprotect marine species under the ESA. Of the over2,000 species protected under the Act, only about six percent are marinespecies.

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.” Thus far, however, the FisheriesService is not living up to that mandate.

Protectionunder the ESA is an effective safety net for imperiled species: more than 99percent of plants and animals protected by the law exist today. The law isespecially important as a defense against the current extinction crisis;species are disappearing at a rate much higher than the natural rate ofextinction due to human activities. Scientists estimate that 227 species wouldhave gone extinct by 2006 if not for ESA protections. Listingspecies with global distributions can protect them from trade and help focusU.S. resources toward enforcement of international regulations and recovery ofthe species.

WildEarth Guardians and Friends ofAnimals (FoA) are represented in the suit by Jennifer Best and Mike Harris of FoA.

Read the complaint.

photo credit: Sean Nash, Creative Commons, Flickr