Status Review of Cherry Point Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) and Updated Status Review of the Georgia Basin Pacific Herring Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act

摘要

In 2001 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) completed a status review of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii Valenciennes, 1847) in Puget Sound under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). At that time, a Biological Review Team (BRT) concluded that spawning populations of Pacific herring from Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia constituted the Georgia Basin Pacific herring distinct population segment (DPS), and that this DPS was neither in danger of extinction nor likely to become so in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. On 22 January 2004 and 14 May 2004, NMFS received petitions seeking to list Pacific herring that spawn at Cherry Point, Washington (a subset of the Georgia Basin Pacific herring DPS), as a threatened or endangered species under the ESA. NMFS evaluated each petition to determine whether the petitioner provided substantial information as required by the ESA to list a species. Additionally, NMFS evaluated whether information contained in the petitions might support the identification of a DPS that might warrant listing as a species under the ESA. NMFS determined that the 22 January 2004 petition failed to present substantial scientific and commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.