ESA Biennial Report to Congress

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) Biennial Report to Congress on the Recovery Program for Threatened and Endangered Species (the "Report") summarizes efforts to recover all domestic species under NOAA Fisheries' jurisdiction.

2008-2010 Biennial Report

The current Report spans October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2010 (FY 2009 and FY 2010).

During the 2 years covered in the Report, NOAA Fisheries had jurisdiction over 64 domestic species:

• 37 fish
• 8 sea turtles
• 14 marine mammals
• 4 invertebrates
• 1 plant

We manage 74 species in total. Our 8 foreign species and the 2 domestic species listed after September 30, 2010 are not included in this Report.

The Report includes accounts of each species, their status and current threats, the conservation actions undertaken during the last two years, and priority actions needed over the next two years. The 64 domestic species we address in this report include five newly listed species:

• Black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii),
  listed as endangered on January 14, 2009
  
  
• Bocaccio rockfish (Sebastes paucispinis): Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin "Distinct Population Segment (DPS)",
  listed as endangered on April 28, 2010
  
  
• Canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger): Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin DPS,
  listed as threatened on April 28, 2010
  
  
• Eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus): Southern DPS,
  listed as threatened on March 18, 2010
  
  
• Yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus): Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin DPS,
  listed as threatened on April 28, 2010
  

Recovery of threatened and endangered species is a tremendous, long-term challenge, but one which also offers long-term benefits to the health of our environment and our communities. Recovery is both the biological goal of listed species becoming enduring members of the ecosystems we all depend upon and the process of conserving these species and ecosystems.

Actions to achieve a species' recovery may require

• restoring or preserving habitat
• minimizing or offsetting effects of actions that harm species
• enhancing population numbers
• or a combination of all of these

The actions that are discussed in this report were accomplished by working with a variety of stakeholders, including private citizens, federal, state and local agencies, tribes, interested organizations, and industry.

These and many continuing actions help provide communities with healthier ecosystems, cleaner water, greater opportunities for recreation, and the opportunity to help ensure current and future generations share these benefits.

Partnerships for recovery

Recovery actions are funded and implemented by many partners--Federal, state, tribal, non-profit, and private. NOAA programs that directly fund recovery actions include:

• Species Recovery Grants to States: $436K in FY 2009 and $12.7M in FY 2010
• Species Recovery Grants to Tribes: $947K in FY 2010
• Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund: $79.9M in FY 2009 and $79.9M in FY 2010

Projects funded through these programs often address priority actions identified in recovery plans and thus make important contributions to the recovery of listed species.

The Species Recovery Grant Program, authorized under section 6 of the Endangered Species Act, provides grant funding to partnering state agencies to support management, outreach, research, and monitoring projects that have direct conservation benefits for listed species.

NOAA Fisheries began the Species Recovery Grants to Tribes program in FY 2010 to support tribally led recovery efforts that directly benefit listed species.

The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) was established by Congress in FY 2000 to protect, restore, and conserve Pacific salmon and steelhead populations and their habitats.

Between October 1, 2008, and September 30, 2010, the status of the 64 domestic endangered or threatened species listed under the ESA was as follows:

• 26 (41%) were stabilized or improving
• 17 (26%) were known to be declining
• 7 (11%) were mixed, with their status varying by population location
• 14 (22%) were unknown, because we lacked sufficient data to make a determination

We are making progress with your continued support. Contact your local NOAA Fisheries regional office, state wildlife agency, or tribal wildlife agency to find out how you can help recover your local species.

Read the full report [pdf].

Archive

• 2008-2010 [pdf] [4.7 MB]
• 2006-2008 [pdf] [3.3 MB]
• 2004-2006 [pdf] [1.3 MB]
• 2002-2004 [pdf] [3.7 MB]
• 2000-2002 [pdf] [1.1 MB]
• 1998-2000 [pdf] [1.6 MB]
• 1996-1998 [pdf] [5.9 MB]
• 1994-1996 [pdf] [569 KB]
• 1992-1994 [pdf] [7.0 MB]
• 1989-1991 [pdf] [1.9 MB]

For a hard copy of a report, please contact us.

More Information

• Endangered Species Act
• Publications from NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources
• Species protected under the ESA

Updated: September 24, 2012