Pacific Great White Shark not endangered NOAA finds

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Pacific Great White Shark not endangered NOAA finds

June 30, 2013 - 23:10
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Northeastern Pacific Ocean population of great white sharks does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act, NOAA announced Friday. NOAA scientists concluded that the white shark population is a distinct genetic group with a low to very low risk of extinction now and in the foreseeable future.

(filephoto) A great white shark at Isla Guadalupe, Mexico

NOAA had been investigating the great white population since last year, when the environmental groups Oceana, Shark Stewards and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition calling for endangered species protection.

The petitioners were reacting to the first ever census of great whites which was conducted by UC Davis and Stanford University researchers, and published in the journal Biology Letters in 2011. The census estimated that only 219 adult and sub-adult great whites lived off the Central California coast, and perhaps double that many were in the entire northeastern Pacific Ocean, including Southern California.

Less than 700 sharks

A joint statement from Oceana, Center for Biological Diversity, Shark Stewards and WildEarth Guardians said federal authorities ignored studies which listed less than 700 sharks off the California coast.

"Our team felt that there were more than 200 mature females alone, an indication of a total population of at least 3,000," countered Heidi Dewar, a fisheries research biologist at NOAA.
NOAA's analysis, which will be made public Monday, was based on a comprehensive review of threats to the population, direct and indirect indicators of abundance trends and analysis of fisheries by catch in the United States and Mexico, Dewar said.

Margaret Spring, vice president at Monterry Bay Aquarium for conservation and science, said in a news release the organization appreciated the "thorough review" by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"We are fully committed to supporting rigorous science, public education efforts and ocean policy reform," she wrote, "to ensure that great white sharks do not become more vulnerable in the future."

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