Endangered Species Law & Policy

On September 19, 2016, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published proposed rules to list two species of dolphin and two species of guitarfish under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  NMFS proposes to list the Maui’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori maui) as endangered under the ESA and the South Island Hector’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori hectori), the common guitarfish (Rhinobatos rhinobatos) and the blackchin guitarfish (Rhinobatos cemiculus) as threatened under the ESA.  Both subspecies of dolphin occur only in New Zealand.  The two guitarfish species occur in the subtropical waters of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.  According to the Federal Register, the public comment periods for the proposed rules close on November 18, 2016.

On September 20, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a proposed rule to list the ‘i’iwi (Drepani coccinea, also known as the Hawaiian honeycreeper) as threatened under the ESA.  The ‘i’iwi is found primarily in closed canopy montane wet or montane mesic forests composed of tall stature ohia or ohia and koa tree mixed forest.  The species is known to occur on the islands of Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii  with populations in various states of decline.  A few individual birds have been identified on the islands of Oahu and Molokai, and ‘i’iwi have been extirpated from the island of Lanai.  According to the Federal Register, the public comment period for the proposed rule closes on November 21, 2016.