Audubon and our partners in conservation, submitted an Emergency = Petition to the Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday, July 27th, to = list the rufa subspecies of the Red Knot on the Endangered Species List = (ESA). The Eastern population of the Red Knot has declined so = dramatically in the past 15 years that scientists are worried the = species could go extinct by 2010. Numbering over 150,000 just 20 years = ago, last year's counts of Red Knots were around 13,000 - putting this = bird on the downward spiral to extinction.
Last July, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Audubon Society submitted a = petition to list the Red Knot. This Emergency listing is a follow-up to = that request. Basically, the science says that this species is = declining so rapidly that the regular listing process needs to be = accelerated. Emergency listing is quite rare but we believe the birds' = very existence depends upon swift action. =20 Yesterday, a press conference was held with the coalition partners and = there was an article in today's Delaware News Journal - = http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D/20050803/NEWS0= 1/508030358/1006 The press release is below. If you have any questions, please contact = Greg Butcher, Mike Daulton, Marlyn Twitchell or myself. Desiree Sorenson-Groves Audubon Public Policy Office 1150 Connecticut Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20036 office: (202) 861-2242 ex. 3038 cell: (202) 549-1033 From: CChess=20 Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 11:22 AM Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Conservation Groups Call for Emergency = Endangered Listing for Red Knot FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 2, 2005 Contact: William Lutz 202-772-0269 Brad DeVries 202-772-0237 CONSERVATION GROUPS CALL FOR EMERGENCY ENDANGERED LISTING FOR RED KNOT, A RAPIDLY DECLINING SHOREBIRD Washington, DC - In response to the 80% decline in Red Knot population = over the past ten years, leading conservation groups filed an emergency = petition asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Red Knot = as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The listing = request comes from an alliance of wildlife groups including Defenders of = Wildlife, New Jersey Audubon Society, American Bird Conservancy, the = National Audubon Society, Delaware Audubon Society, Citizens Campaign = for the Environment, Audubon New York, Audubon Maryland-DC and Virginia = Audubon Council. "Our petition plainly demonstrates that the Red Knot is on the path = toward extinction. The Bush Administration now has the opportunity to = reverse the bird's downward spiral and the Endangered Species Act is the = tool they need to do that," said Defenders of Wildlife Executive Vice = President, Jamie Rappaport Clark. The petition targets the rufa subspecies of the Red Knot, a migratory = shorebird that makes an 18,000 mile roundtrip journey each year from its = winter home at the tip of South America to the Arctic and back again. = The birds stop just a few times on the way to refuel. Their final = critical stop is at Delaware Bay, which is the most critical because it = is the last major refueling spot before completing the journey to their = Arctic breeding grounds. At the Bay, the starving birds must feast on = fat-rich horseshoe crab eggs in order to restore the reserves necessary = to complete their migration and to provide energy for the first several = days or weeks in the Arctic as food there can initially be scarce. But, = in recent years, Delaware Bay's horseshoe crab population has rapidly = diminished and the number of birds able to successfully reach their = breeding grounds and successfully reproduce has dramatically declined. "The Red Knot's decline is a direct result of the overfishing of = horseshoe crabs whose eggs are a critical food source for the Red Knot's = migration," said Perry Plumart, American Bird Conservancy's Director of = Conservation Advocacy. "We urge Interior Secretary Norton to act now to = keep the Red Knot returning to Delaware Bay in the decades to come." The birds visiting the Delaware Bay, once numbering more than 100,000, = now number around 17,000. If nothing is done to ensure the bird's = survival, recent scientific models predict extinction as early as 2010. The petition details reasons why the Endangered Species Act's emergency = listing provisions are needed to save the bird, including: =B7 Its primary food source in the United States -- horseshoe crab eggs = -- is threatened due to over utilization of crabs for commercial = purposes. =B7 The birds' inability to properly refuel at Delaware Bay reduces = rates of survival and recruitment and increases their susceptibility to = disease and predation. =B7 Existing regulatory mechanisms are inadequate as the Red Knot = receives only minimal protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and = no protection for its habitat or food source. The Endangered Species Act emergency listing petition comes after the = groups had worked for many years with the states and the Atlantic States = Marine Fisheries Commission, the agency that regulates the horseshoe = crab fishery, to reduce the take of horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay = and neighboring areas. In June, the groups asked the Commission and the = states of New Jersey and Delaware for an emergency closure of the = horseshoe crab fishery to stop the further decline of available = horseshoe crab eggs. New Jersey closed the harvest for an additional two = weeks due to the presence of a late arriving flock. Although some states have taken additional actions such as closing key = feeding areas to the public during spring migration and reducing = competition for eggs between knots and gulls, these efforts are not able = to reverse the bird's severe decline. New data showing that the Red Knot = population continues to decline at a rapid rate suggests that a complete = closure of the horseshoe crab fishery is the most important action that = can be taken to stop further decline of this species. A listing under = the ESA would require the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to = consult with the Service on the impacts of the horseshoe crab fishery on = the red knot and lead to the development of a coordinated recovery plan, = a potential closure of the crab fishery and funding for implementation = of various conservation measures. The petition concludes: "In the absence of an Endangered Species Act = listing for the Red Knot, protection efforts to date have failed to = address site-specific threats to the Red Knot (i.e. habitat loss and = availability of food at Delaware Bay) and also have not led to the = development and implementation of conservation and management strategies = on the multi-state regional scale that are necessary for the = preservation of the species." "The Red Knot features one of the longest migrations of any bird species = and is a valuable part of the coastal web of life from the Arctic to the = southern tip of South America," said Greg Butcher, Director of Bird = Conservation for the National Audubon Society. "Our willingness to act = quickly and decisively to save this icon of global connectedness is a = powerful test of our stewardship of Earth's vital resources." "The science is clear and compelling that emergency listing is = desperately needed to protect the Red Knot," according to Thomas J. = Gilmore, President of New Jersey Audubon Society. "Only by listing the = Red Knot can we safeguard New Jersey's Serengeti - the Delaware Bay - = for future generations." "The scientific models indicate the extinction of the Red Knot by 2010. = This is only 5 years away, a blink of the eye. Emergency listing is the = only hope we have of saving this important species," said Delaware = Audubon Conservation Chair Nick DiPasquale. A copy of the petition can be found on line at = <http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/redknots/petition.pdf>. ###
