Aug. 19, 2024

The Global Recovery Plan for Oceanic White Tips: A Deep Dive with NOAA Scientists

The Global Recovery Plan for Oceanic White Tips: A Deep Dive with NOAA Scientists

On this bonus episode of the Beyond Jaws podcast, hosts Andrew Lewin and Dr. David Ebert delve into the recovery plan for the oceanic white tip shark with guests John Carlson and Chelsea Young from NOAA. They explore the importance of a global...

On this bonus episode of the Beyond Jaws podcast, hosts Andrew Lewin and Dr. David Ebert delve into the recovery plan for the oceanic white tip shark with guests John Carlson and Chelsea Young from NOAA. They explore the importance of a global recovery plan for this species despite its US origins. The conversation highlights the evolution of shark science, public interest in sharks, and the crucial work being done to protect these fascinating creatures.

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Recovery plans for endangered species, such as the oceanic white tip shark, are crucial for conservation efforts and often require a global approach. In a podcast episode, John Carlson and Chelsea Young from NOAA discussed the development of a recovery plan for the oceanic white tip shark, a species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The recovery plan serves as a blueprint for achieving the goal of removing the species from the endangered list by outlining specific actions and strategies to support the recovery of the population.

One key aspect highlighted in the episode is the global nature of the recovery plan. The oceanic white tip shark is a species with a wide distribution, spanning multiple ocean basins and international waters. As a result, the recovery plan involves collaboration with various regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) and international partners to address the conservation challenges faced by the species on a global scale.

The development of the recovery plan also involves setting benchmarks, timelines, and criteria for assessing the progress of the recovery efforts. The plan includes a series of scenarios and criteria that need to be met in different management units to demonstrate recovery. This approach ensures that recovery efforts are comprehensive and address the specific needs of the species in different regions.

Furthermore, the implementation of the recovery plan requires a coordinated effort involving scientists, policymakers, NGOs, and other stakeholders. The plan outlines on-the-ground activities and research projects aimed at supporting the recovery goals. Additionally, the plan emphasizes the importance of engaging with international partners and encouraging collaborative research and conservation initiatives to enhance the recovery of the oceanic white tip shark population.

The episode underscores the significance of global cooperation and coordinated conservation efforts in the development and implementation of recovery plans for endangered species like the oceanic white tip shark. By taking a holistic and collaborative approach, conservationists can work towards ensuring the long-term survival and recovery of threatened species across different regions and jurisdictions.

The implementation of recovery plans for endangered species, such as the oceanic white tip shark, involves a multi-faceted approach that combines scientific research, policy development, and international collaboration. In the episode, it was highlighted that the recovery plan for the oceanic white tip shark was a collaborative effort between scientists, policymakers, and various organizations both nationally and internationally.

Scientific research plays a crucial role in the implementation of recovery plans. Researchers like John Carlson and Chelsea Young from NOAA Fisheries conducted biological and analytical research to support the stock assessment of sharks and endangered elasmobranchs. This research provided essential data on population dynamics, threats, and trends in abundance, which informed the development of the recovery plan.

Policy development is another key component of implementing recovery plans. Chelsea Young, based in Honolulu, oversees the recovery planning and rulemaking for Threatened and Endangered Marine Species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The recovery plan serves as a guidance document outlining the actions needed to recover the species to a point where it no longer requires protection under the Endangered Species Act.

International collaboration is essential for the successful implementation of recovery plans for globally distributed species like the oceanic white tip shark. The recovery plan involved workshops in Miami and Honolulu, bringing together scientists, fishermen, environmental organizations, and policymakers from different countries and regions. The plan also considered the management units delineated by regional fishery management organizations, emphasizing the need for coordinated efforts across borders.

The implementation strategy outlined in the recovery plan includes on-the-ground activities, research projects, and conservation initiatives aimed at achieving the goals set for the recovery of the species. The plan serves as a blueprint for action, providing a framework for scientists, policymakers, and conservationists to work together towards the common goal of species recovery.

Overall, the successful implementation of recovery plans for endangered species like the oceanic white tip shark requires a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach that integrates scientific research, policy development, and international cooperation. By working together across borders and disciplines, stakeholders can make significant progress towards the conservation and recovery of threatened species.

Recovery plans for species like the oceanic white tip shark require a multi-faceted approach, including setting benchmarks, conducting research, and engaging with various stakeholders.

The recovery plan for the oceanic white tip shark discussed in the podcast episode highlights the importance of a comprehensive approach to species recovery. The plan involves setting benchmarks to track progress towards recovery, such as population assessments, trends in abundance, and threat level reductions. These benchmarks provide a roadmap for measuring the success of conservation efforts and guiding future actions.

Additionally, conducting research plays a crucial role in understanding the species and implementing effective conservation strategies. Research efforts, such as satellite and acoustic tagging, post-release survivorship studies, and stock assessments, provide valuable data to inform decision-making and prioritize conservation actions. For example, research conducted in Hawaii and the Western Central Pacific has been instrumental in assessing population declines and informing recovery strategies.

Moreover, engaging with various stakeholders is essential for successful species recovery. The recovery plan involves collaboration with fishermen, environmental organizations, academic experts, researchers, and international management organizations. By involving diverse perspectives and expertise, the plan aims to leverage collective knowledge and resources to support the recovery of the oceanic white tip shark.

Overall, the multi-faceted approach outlined in the recovery plan underscores the importance of combining scientific research, stakeholder engagement, and strategic goal-setting to effectively conserve and recover threatened species like the oceanic white tip shark.

Transcript
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We have another wonderful bonus episode here on

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the Beyond Jaws podcast. We're going to be talking to John Carlson and

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Chelsea Young from NOAA discussing the recovery plan

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for the oceanic white tip. This is an interesting episode. We're going

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to dive into the science, into what a recovery plan really

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looks like, and why are they looking at a global recovery

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plan with the oceanic white tips when they're from the US. So it's going to be an interesting

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conversation. We're going to talk about it on today's episode of the Beyond Jaws

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podcast, the bonus episode. Let's start the show. In

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the early to mid 1900s, the only thing people knew about sharks was

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that they bit people from time to time. Some scientists started to

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get to know more about the larger sharks, studying their life histories and

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their fisheries. As the field grew, so did the diversity of fields

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within shark science. Public interest in sharks grew exponentially

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as a series of movies called Jaws piqued the people's fear and curiosity

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for these sharks. More information was revealed about

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these mysterious animals as the shark science field grew. From exploration

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to discovery to genetics and ecology, the Beyond Jaws podcast will

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introduce you to shark scientists of the American Alasma Brain Society and

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their work to help you better understand these wonderful species and

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take your knowledge Beyond Jaws. Hey

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everybody, welcome back to another exciting episode of the Beyond Jaws

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podcast, a bonus episode today. I am your co-host, Andrew

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Lewin, here with my other co-host, Dr. David Ebert. Dave, this

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is about oceanic white tips. What do you know about

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Well, there's a lot of concern, a lot of areas of the world where the

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populations have declined by, you know, 90, 99% in some

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areas. And so it's probably not as

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well as we'll find out today about as And even though it's

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a concern in the U.S. waters, you get into international waters

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beyond national boundaries of national

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jurisdictions, you talk to other countries, other oceanic areas

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where the populations have been severely impacted. And

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so this plan they put together is actually a global plan with

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the major ocean basins looked at in different areas. It's

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fascinating how they go to go through. We'll talk about the process, what they do, why

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they came about to do this, do this, why it involved ocean, why

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they did oceanic white tips and some of the research that they've been doing. And

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so people get a little bit of a peek behind the scene on how the

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process works with like a NOAA fisheries and some of these organizations. And

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I think talking about some of the international aspects of it. too, was

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Yeah, absolutely. I think this is going to be a very, very fun episode to

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be able to talk about. So here is the interview with John

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Carlson and Chelsea Young talking about the recovery plan for

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the oceanic white tips. Enjoy, and we'll talk to you after. Hey,

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John and Chelsea, welcome to the Beyond Jaws podcast. Are you ready

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Thanks for having us. Welcome to the Beyond Jaws podcast. We

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have a special bonus episode today. It's such a big

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show. We have to have two people on to talk about it. Today we have John

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Carlson and Chelsea Young, both with NOAA Fisheries, who recently completed

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a conservation and management recovery plan for the oceanic white tip, Carcharhinus

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longimanus. It's a species listed under the Endangered Species Act,

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and it's also listed under CITES Appendix 2, as well as several

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other conservation and management organization protocols. John

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is a research fishery biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service

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in Panama City, where he started as a graduate student in

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the 1990s. After completing his doctorate in biological sciences

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from the University of Mississippi, he took a full-time position with

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the Southeast Fishery Science Center in Panama City.

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His research involves biological and analytical research relating to

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population dynamics in support of the stock assessment of sharks, but

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he also conducts research towards the recovery of endangered elasmobranchs. John

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serves on numerous committees nationally and internationally, and has an

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extensive publication record, and collaborates with numerous colleagues at universities,

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state agencies, and private institutions. He enjoys working with students

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and has supervised graduate students as a committee member, and he's mentored

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countless undergraduate interns, such as Megan Whitten

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and Ivy Barrymore, who were both recently on the podcast. Chelsea,

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who also works for the NOAA Fisheries, but she's based out in Honolulu, Hawaii,

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where she oversees the recovery planning and rulemaking for Threatening Endangered

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Marine Species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Her

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educational background includes a bachelor's and a master's degree in

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marine affairs and policy from the University of Miami's Rosensteil School

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of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. And she's been, has 15 years

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experience in marine conservation arena with a special interest in alazobranchs. She

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also serves on the regional vice chair for the

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IUCN shark specialist group along with John Carlson. And

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John and Chelsea, welcome to the show today. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dave.

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So, wow. I can't believe it. Awesome. Uh, so we, uh, briefly before we

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get into the, uh, on the, on the, on the recovery plan you just

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produced, could each of you tell us just a little bit about your background, how you got

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Sure. So I grew up in South Florida near

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Fort Lauderdale on the East Coast. And so my whole

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upbringing was on the beaches there and in the

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marine environment. I became a scuba diver at 14 years old and just

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always enamored with all of the wonderful marine life that

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Florida had to offer. And I knew from a very young age that I wanted to study

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marine science and work towards that.

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Going to the University of Miami, I got into the marine affairs and policy field,

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which is a little bit broader, looking at

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different policy issues and management as opposed to being an applied research

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scientist. And I went to graduate school there

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as well. I actually worked on corals in

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my master's work. But it wasn't until I actually got hired

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with NOAA Fisheries that I started to work on petition

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responses under the Endangered Species Act for various elasmobranchs. So

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basically we got a number of NGOs

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or environmental groups that think that sharks have some problems and

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they want NOAA fisheries to take a look and see whether or not they warrant federal

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protection under the Endangered Species Act. And I worked on a whole host

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of those petitions actually when I was in Silver

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Spring, Maryland at our headquarters office. But

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even before I started working on sharks with Noah, I've always been incredibly fascinated

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by them. I watched all kinds of National Geographic documentaries

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on sharks when I was a child, and Eugenie Clark, and Sylvia

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Earle were my, you know, just massive, you

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know, inspirational women in that field. And so it's,

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yeah, that's kind of what led me into going into this field.

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Yeah, real similar situation. Not growing up in Florida, but growing

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up in Connecticut, You know, I was on the water before I

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could walk. I think, you know, my dad had a boat and we were on the ocean

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all the time and just became enamored with the ocean and,

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um, just kept, you know, pursuing various

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fields. And it was, it was kind of funny when, you know, I've done media

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people before and everybody's like, Oh, did you want to be Jock Bustow when you grow up? I'm like, no,

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I want to be Matt Cooper. So, you

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know, kind of one of those things and just

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kept building. Actually, when I did my master's, it was on

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little tiny winter flounder about the size of, you know, between

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my fingers. I did that for my master's work, but I always had that

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interest in sharks and elasmobranchs. And I was lucky enough to

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work under Glenn Parsons at the University of Mississippi after I finished my master's.

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And it was just one of those kind of, you know, serendipitous kind

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of situations where I ended up working with Glenn and

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working at the Panama City lab for my dissertation. And

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everything kind of came together where I ended up, you know, still studying sharks,

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which, you know, generally doesn't happen to me. You do your dissertation stuff on one

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thing and end up doing another. But like I said, it was just, you know,

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luck of the draw, you know, that I ended up doing work and then. At

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the same time, I was finishing up my dissertation and Rick Cortez recently

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got hired as one of the population analysts for

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sharks in the Southeast Pacific Science Center in NOAA where that worked. And he

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was, you know, of the opinion that, you know, look, if we want a shark program, I

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need, we want John in here too. And it just turned out that I

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ended up in that program. So one of these very,

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you know, issues, you know, that just kind of like everything

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Yeah. You're one of the few guys that actually went Were they able to stay in

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the shark field, actually going from your PhD into working there

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at NOAA? Because most people have to go through this long, winding

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road to usually get back into doing the shark field, so you're definitely

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Exactly. That's exactly what I tell a lot of the interns and

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graduate students that I mentor. It's like, don't expect to

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work on sharks. It was just pure serendipity,

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timing, everything that ended up doing something. Ironically,

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when I was finishing up my PhD, I was applying for postdocs. I

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actually had a postdoc opportunity in the University of Washington to

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do CBERTS, so it was one of those things where

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That's good. It's interesting to hear about your background there. John and I have known

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each other a long time, so I know a little bit about that. Go

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Oh yeah. In the Amazon. The Amazon, yeah, that's right. We had

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our infamous Amazon with the pink dolphins and everything else, where

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we did not do any bird watching, if I recall correctly. So

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why don't you, how did the whole, so obviously you guys

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are both involved with the Endangered Species Act, and most of

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us in the field know that Oceanic white tips are

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a species considered vulnerable. But how

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did that come about of all the different species you could have picked up

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Yeah, I can answer that. So generally, to

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get this process started under the U.S. Endangered Species Act,

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there's really two ways that can happen. One is that no

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officiaries can be petitioned by a third party, like

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an NGO or non-governmental organization or

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environmental group or any individual really can send

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in a petition to us to ask us to look at the status of

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the species. Or we can self-initiate, but oftentimes

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we just don't have the capacity or resources to be able to initiate what

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we would call a status review of a species on our own. We're

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usually being pretty reactive to external requests or

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petitions. In this case, we got a petition from a

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non-governmental organization asking us

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to take a look at the status of oceanic white tip sharks. And

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usually when people think of a petition, they're thinking of a letter with

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a bunch of signatures on it. And in this case, it's really more of a biological report.

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It has to have a lot of substantial scientific information and data for

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us to consider. in order to go forward with what we would

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call a formal status review of the species to determine

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whether or not it meets the definition of threatened or endangered as

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laid out by the Endangered Species Act. So that's initially how this started. I

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think it was submitted to us in 2015 or 2016. I can't

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remember the exact year. But when we got that petition and

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we looked at it, we said, OK, yeah, there's enough here for us to take a really close

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look at this and see whether or not the oceanic white tip needs to be

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What do these, what does this petition look like? Does it have to have a certain amount

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of signatures on or is it more of just a letter from the organization

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saying, you know, here's a case, a use case to

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Yeah, it's definitely not, you know, the typical petition that we think of

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with signatures. It's just, it's basically, it's got to have some certain

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requirements laid out in our regulations requesting

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what action it is. And, um, But

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basically, it's like I said, it's a biological report. So they go through

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the demographics of the species, population status, the threats, whether

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or not current existing regulations are protective enough, and

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going through all of these factors that we lay out in the

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Endangered Species Act, that they have to meet these criteria in

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And generally, what happens from Chelsea's you

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know, when she was in headquarters, they generally, her office would

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send out a request for scientists to be part

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of the review process of the SAS to determine whether or not.

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And so, you know, they had sent, they would send out, you

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know, a letter or email to the Northeast, especially

201
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all the different science centers from the Hawaii to the Southeast and the Northeast,

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requesting scientists, you know, work with Chelsea and her colleagues, because

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this is a policy issue, but it's also a science issue. on

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evaluating the information that's available. And

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Chelsea and I had worked previously together on the Thresher Shark

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ESA petition. And Chelsea and

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I had a really good working relationship together. And when when

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the petition came out, I was like, yeah, I'll work with Chelsea on that. So. But

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Now, you talked about this start like in 2015. So

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is it this pretty typical to take like nine, 10 years

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So the initial process was started, I believe,

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in 2015 or 2016 when we got the

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petition. That process is just for listing the species to

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begin with. So we have to go through this whole status review

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process. We have about a year to make a decision whether or not

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to propose a species as threatened or endangered first. And then that

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proposal has to go out for public review and comment. Then

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we have another year to finalize that listing determination after

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incorporating all of that information that we got from the public and peer

220
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reviewers and things like that. So this listing didn't

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actually happen until 2018 is

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when we actually listed oceanic whitefish finally as threatened. Then

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we started commencing the recovery planning process. And, you

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know, with recovery planning, we want to make sure that we're including you

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know, lots of different people, different expertise. We

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had a number of scientists that we brought together in a series of workshops that

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we did both in Miami, Florida. to kind of cover the Atlantic

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portion of the range in the United States, and then also in Honolulu, Hawaii, to cover the

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Pacific range of the species. And we

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brought together fishermen, environmental organizations, academic

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experts, researchers, all kinds of folks to give us input

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in how to develop this plan. So that took a little bit of time as well. And

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then we formulated the draft recovery plan based on

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a lot of that input, which came out I

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think a couple years ago, trying to think of when the draft recovery plan. And

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then from that process, you know, again, it goes out for public comment and review.

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incorporate all of that, and then we can finally adopt a

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recovery plan. So it does take quite a bit of time from, you

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know, a listing to getting a recovery plan in place. We are, as

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an agency, trying to shorten that time frame. But

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especially for a species like this, where it's globally distributed, there

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are lots of different threats and factors going into it. There's a lot of information

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Yeah, and one thing I should say, because I've worked on recovery plans for smalltooth

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sawfish, and You know, most of the small-to-cell fish recovery plan,

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I mean, that was very, you know, located because

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the species was only proposed for listing in,

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you know, in the U.S. waters. But, you know, kudos to Chelsea, you

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know, because it was an internationally listed species, you

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know, she organized workshops, as you said, in Honolulu and

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in Miami. And we brought in international people. We

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brought in people from IOTC, from various international organizations.

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We brought in Shelley Clark. Mariana Colletti. I mean, different people.

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we wanted to make sure that we covered the gamut, not

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just focusing centrically on the US perspective,

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but wholly on the global perspective,

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which may have taken the process a little longer. But in the end,

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because, you know, Chelsea organized all these workshops, we

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had a view of a variety of scientists and policymakers from

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I got to ask you, how does that work when you're dealing with like, it's one

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thing to be doing a policy for in US waters,

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when you take it globally and obviously you're running the whole gamut in

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terms of countries from developed countries to developing

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or very, you know, relatively poor countries. How does that,

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and especially you have this global species, how, how

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does that process work trying to get all of these different countries

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It's not easy, that's for sure. And I think, you know, one thing,

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and John, you know, you can chime in from your perspective, too. But I think

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what, what we didn't want to do was try to reinvent the wheel too

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much. And so in order to kind of break down this

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global species into kind of more manageable pieces.

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We did identify what we call management units

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for oceanic white tip sharks, and basically they're delineated based on

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the boundary lines of regional fishery management organizations. So we

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have the Atlantic Management Unit that falls under ICAT,

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the Indian Ocean Management Unit that falls under IOTC and so

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on and so forth with WCPFC, the

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Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Sorry, I apologize for any acronyms to

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the listeners. We're rife with them in

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this field. and then the Eastern Pacific

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as well. So from there, we kind of

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tried to lay out all of the different things

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that we would want to accomplish in those areas for

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recovery of the species based on what we knew already

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that were happening in those different regions of the world. So

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we didn't really break it down country by country because that would just be, it

286
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would be just two in the weeds and not really helpful, but

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looking at broader actions and then on

288
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the ground activities that we could do in these different management units

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for the species, depending on what threats it's facing, and

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the different partners we would have to try and reach out and collaborate with in

291
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those different management units. And then also working through those

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existing international mechanisms like the RFMOs, like

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CITES, like CMS, Convention

294
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on Migratory Species, and things like that. And John, you can totally add on, because you've

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got so much experience in the international arena. on how we've

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tried to bring in those various mechanisms to help complement

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Yeah, and I mean, the follow on Chelsea, I mean, there was just, I totally

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agree with what she had said. And just, you

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know, no, there was so many different international players in this

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development of the recovery plan. You know, Chelsea and I wanted to

301
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make sure that we had everyone involved from the get

302
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go when we were developing you know, the criteria for

303
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recovering oceanic white, and you know, like she said, you know, it's just the RFMOs involved.

304
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They have their own set of management regulations, you know, oceanic

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white, this isn't on CITES, this isn't on CMS. So we

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were trying to, you know, encompass all those different lines

307
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of thinking and, you know, thoughts as

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No, he brought up a thing, Chelsea, you have these

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areas beyond international jurisdictions. basically

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in international waters. How does that and this obviously this is a

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species that occurs probably largely in international waters

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How does that work? So I guess what I should

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have started this whole thing out with is that a recovery plan under the Endangered

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Species Act, it's really a guidance document. It's

315
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not a regulatory action. We're not mandating that anybody do

316
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these things. This is basically a blueprint for how we would like

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to recover the species so

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that it no longer needs the protections under the Endangered Species Act. So we're

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basically trying to get it from, you know, it's listed as threatened, we

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want to get it to a place where we don't need to have it listed anymore. So this is

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an outlined guidance document showing

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how we think we can get there. So it's for

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anybody around the world, any of these organizations, they can pick it

324
00:20:46,618 --> 00:20:50,177
up, look at what we've outlined there and, you know, if

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we've identified them as a potential partner or not, anybody can

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00:20:53,418 --> 00:20:56,780
pick it up and decide like, okay, we can do this, like we've got funding, we

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can we can do this project or, you know, or use

328
00:21:00,141 --> 00:21:03,382
it as a resource to support something that they're already trying to

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do, which we have taken some of this to the Western

330
00:21:06,784 --> 00:21:10,445
and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, for example, and say, hey, this is a, you know, priority

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in this recovery plan. or as a source

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to get funding for projects that are listed as high priority. So it's

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not something that we're saying, hey, you countries that

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are fishing in this area, you have to do this. We

335
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don't have the authority to mandate anybody outside of the United States do

336
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any of these things. But it's just something that's out there. It's to

337
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help raise awareness. And it's to give folks that

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are trying to do some of this work, some ideas of

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ways that, you know, the United States, anyway, thinks that this

340
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So as a part, within U.S. waters, is

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some of this actually implemented? Is

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some of this stuff to be sort of like, as you kind of, I think, alluded

343
00:21:58,106 --> 00:22:01,567
Yeah, I think that's one of the ideas and that was a lot of the feedback we

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got from our workshops was like, the U.S. is definitely going to serve

345
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as an example to the rest of the world for our

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management and our policies. And John, you know, can speak a lot to you

347
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know, the management that we have in the Atlantic that has

348
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been really successful for a number of species or

349
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just our fisheries management anyway that has served

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as a real good example for the international community.

351
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And one thing that I will say that did happen as a result of this plan when

352
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we were in the draft phase, something we implemented in the United States was

353
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completely prohibiting oceanic white tips in all fishing gears in

354
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the Atlantic. Originally, it was just for pelagic long lines and then

355
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As we were coming up with this recovery plan, we said, no, we need to

356
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really prohibit them in all years. And

357
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that was something that came, that regulation came as a result of us

358
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No, I didn't know Chelsea if you wanted to mention the Wire Leader Initiative in Hawaii. I

359
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mean, this was... definitely something where industry saw

360
00:23:02,441 --> 00:23:06,122
what was coming and they had the foresight to work with NOAA

361
00:23:06,182 --> 00:23:09,784
fisheries and hopefully this will be carried. I'll let you, because that's something

362
00:23:10,724 --> 00:23:14,446
Yeah, that was just another management measure,

363
00:23:14,566 --> 00:23:18,747
regulation that came out from our office here in Hawaii

364
00:23:18,947 --> 00:23:22,488
regarding the change in gear to help increase post-release

365
00:23:22,508 --> 00:23:26,190
survivorship of oceanic white tips. This is kind of a combination of

366
00:23:27,271 --> 00:23:30,334
you know, things that we had been talking about for recovery. One of the

367
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things that we had in the plan was investigating different gear types

368
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to help with at-vessel and post-release mortality. And

369
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eventually, our fishery here, we mandated

370
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a change from wire leaders to monofilament to help with,

371
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you know, bite-offs and sharks being able to get off the line more easily than if

372
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they were trying to, you know, be be caught with a wire leader and

373
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most likely have a higher post-release mortality from

374
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that. So that was something that also kind of came about in

375
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conjunction with us talking about recovery actions and things we

376
00:24:03,799 --> 00:24:07,240
need to do in the United States. It was a complementary action

377
00:24:09,601 --> 00:24:12,763
So this guidance document, when it's done, you enacted it

378
00:24:12,803 --> 00:24:16,506
through NOAA, through the government. Is

379
00:24:16,526 --> 00:24:19,929
that what you do? You provide this

380
00:24:20,029 --> 00:24:23,111
guidance document to other governments so it's more implemented if

381
00:24:23,151 --> 00:24:26,835
they decide so by Governments and not say nonprofit

382
00:24:28,677 --> 00:24:32,201
I would say anybody can take it and run with it We

383
00:24:32,562 --> 00:24:35,846
definitely are, you know showing this as this is a yes. It's a US government

384
00:24:35,886 --> 00:24:39,230
product. It's a Noah product It's being done through

385
00:24:39,751 --> 00:24:43,435
the requirements of the Endangered Species Act. It's something that is we're

386
00:24:43,455 --> 00:24:46,736
supposed to be doing for any species we list under the ESA, we're then

387
00:24:46,816 --> 00:24:50,037
required to develop a recovery plan, unless we think

388
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it won't provide a conservation benefit, which is a pretty low bar. But

389
00:24:55,518 --> 00:24:59,599
as far as you know, having it be used by other governments, you

390
00:24:59,639 --> 00:25:03,240
know, we certainly, we let folks know that We're

391
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:07,021
doing this. We try to get it out, get the word out as much as possible. But there's

392
00:25:07,061 --> 00:25:10,522
a ton of different actions and activities within

393
00:25:10,562 --> 00:25:13,723
the plan that are geared towards nonprofits or NGOs or

394
00:25:13,763 --> 00:25:17,364
other research organizations that, hey, if you've got funding to take

395
00:25:17,404 --> 00:25:20,745
a look at this particular problem, go for it. You know, we've

396
00:25:23,446 --> 00:25:26,847
Has there been much? I mean, it's funny. I mean, even though I'm on the West Coast

397
00:25:26,887 --> 00:25:30,048
here, I'm more familiar with the stuff. Maybe it's because I know and John and

398
00:25:30,088 --> 00:25:33,322
stuff that goes on in the Atlantic. But has there been much done with

399
00:25:33,402 --> 00:25:37,604
oceanic white tips out in Hawaii? And

400
00:25:37,624 --> 00:25:41,226
as far as any research goes, anybody looking

401
00:25:41,646 --> 00:25:44,987
Yeah. There's actually a program in Hawaii

402
00:25:45,027 --> 00:25:48,369
called the Hawaii Community Tagging Program, which was started

403
00:25:48,409 --> 00:25:51,551
by a colleague of ours, Dr. Melanie Hutchinson, who was

404
00:25:51,791 --> 00:25:57,254
formerly with NOAA. She's now with the IATTC. Inter-American

405
00:25:57,294 --> 00:26:03,838
Tropical Tuna Commission. Am I getting that acronym right? Sorry,

406
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,341
guys. So, yeah, they've been doing a lot of work in

407
00:26:07,381 --> 00:26:11,784
Hawaii with satellite and acoustic tagging. I

408
00:26:11,824 --> 00:26:15,107
know, John, you've worked with and talked to Melanie

409
00:26:15,127 --> 00:26:18,429
a lot about that. You could probably give more details on the science side. But yes, there's been

410
00:26:18,469 --> 00:26:21,631
a lot of work. I would say not before that. There may

411
00:26:21,671 --> 00:26:25,242
be some tagging done, but there's a lot of information gaps.

412
00:26:25,482 --> 00:26:28,685
Yeah, I mean, the work that Melanie was doing out in Hawaii was, you

413
00:26:28,705 --> 00:26:32,708
know, getting a lot of information on post-release survivorship, because

414
00:26:33,029 --> 00:26:36,411
actually the Western Central, again, we're

415
00:26:36,552 --> 00:26:40,335
tongue-tied, Western Central Pacific Fishery Management Council,

416
00:26:42,657 --> 00:26:46,111
Commission, no, not council, commission. Yeah, it's the only

417
00:26:46,332 --> 00:26:49,955
one that's done a full stock assessment for Oceanic Whitetip

418
00:26:49,975 --> 00:26:53,899
Shark. None of the other RFMOs have done a full-on stock

419
00:26:53,919 --> 00:26:57,303
assessment for Oceanic Whitetips. And the questions that Chelsea

420
00:26:57,323 --> 00:27:01,106
referred to earlier was, they are prohibited on

421
00:27:01,307 --> 00:27:04,470
all the RFMOs. They have to be released. But the

422
00:27:04,510 --> 00:27:07,994
question is, when they're released, how

423
00:27:08,034 --> 00:27:11,475
many survive. So the work that Melanie was

424
00:27:11,555 --> 00:27:15,276
doing out in Hawaii was instrumental in providing some of the first information

425
00:27:15,296 --> 00:27:19,717
that we could use in the recovery plan, but also in the WCPSC

426
00:27:19,817 --> 00:27:23,158
stock assessment on when, you know, the stock is,

427
00:27:23,938 --> 00:27:27,159
you know, determined to be overfished. We have, we do projections, you know,

428
00:27:27,559 --> 00:27:30,840
and how long is it going to take given certain situations. And

429
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,200
this was a big question is, you know, if they are

430
00:27:34,260 --> 00:27:37,515
prohibited and they have to be released, you know, Are they

431
00:27:37,895 --> 00:27:41,136
released and then just swim to the bottom and die? Or are they making it?

432
00:27:41,957 --> 00:27:45,178
So Melody's original work was very instrumental in

433
00:27:45,198 --> 00:27:48,479
helping us formulate the recovery plan, but was also very

434
00:27:48,499 --> 00:27:52,040
instrumental in helping us determine the projections

435
00:27:52,100 --> 00:27:55,401
for stock assessment. Because when the stock assessment was done, some

436
00:27:55,441 --> 00:28:00,203
of the scenarios that were done is saying, okay, 20% survived, 40% survived,

437
00:28:00,503 --> 00:28:03,744
60% survived. And then how long is the population going to

438
00:28:03,764 --> 00:28:07,306
take to recover given these various scenarios? So Hawaii

439
00:28:07,326 --> 00:28:11,328
did one of the, I've been trying to, and

440
00:28:11,368 --> 00:28:14,909
we're starting that work in the Atlantic, but definitely the work that Melanie did

441
00:28:19,072 --> 00:28:23,354
So do you have benchmarks

442
00:28:23,414 --> 00:28:28,376
now set up in this plan? Timelines

443
00:28:29,317 --> 00:28:32,638
Yeah, what we did, Dave, is we set up a series of

444
00:28:32,718 --> 00:28:36,976
scenarios, recognizing that we

445
00:28:37,016 --> 00:28:41,059
may not have a full-on stock assessment, population

446
00:28:41,099 --> 00:28:44,562
assessment for each of the management units that Chelsea mentioned.

447
00:28:44,982 --> 00:28:48,424
We set up a series of recovery criteria based on some alternate

448
00:28:48,444 --> 00:28:51,626
scenarios. Obviously, the panacea is going

449
00:28:51,647 --> 00:28:54,849
to be a full-on stock assessment, but we may not

450
00:28:54,869 --> 00:28:58,571
have the data for that in the Indian Ocean or the Atlantic Ocean,

451
00:28:58,752 --> 00:29:02,214
or even now that they're prohibited, it becomes

452
00:29:02,254 --> 00:29:06,017
a little bit more of a challenge because we don't have tech information anymore because there's

453
00:29:06,037 --> 00:29:09,171
no landing. So, you know, Chelsea and I set up

454
00:29:09,231 --> 00:29:12,631
a series of scenarios based on a

455
00:29:12,711 --> 00:29:16,112
level of criteria, you know, starting off with a stock assessment. Okay,

456
00:29:16,132 --> 00:29:19,833
we have a stock assessment. We want the population to reach this level

457
00:29:20,573 --> 00:29:23,754
in so many years based on the biological parameters of

458
00:29:23,774 --> 00:29:26,915
the species. If that's not available, we go

459
00:29:26,955 --> 00:29:30,756
to the next level. Okay, if a stock assessment is not available, then

460
00:29:30,776 --> 00:29:34,176
we want to look at trends in abundance. If the trends in abundance, like

461
00:29:34,196 --> 00:29:38,245
we did for the IUCN, Dave, you know very well the the

462
00:29:38,565 --> 00:29:42,147
methodology, JARA, that we did for all the different IUCN

463
00:29:42,187 --> 00:29:45,289
assessments, we can potentially use that as

464
00:29:45,309 --> 00:29:48,751
a tool to assess the status of the species. If

465
00:29:48,811 --> 00:29:52,273
that's not available, well then we look at another set of criteria. This

466
00:29:52,334 --> 00:29:55,656
is actually something that Enrique Ortez came up with

467
00:29:55,756 --> 00:29:59,078
when we were working at one of the workshops, is looking at different threat levels.

468
00:29:59,678 --> 00:30:02,940
You know, given the threat levels is this, you know, given

469
00:30:02,980 --> 00:30:07,122
the fish mortality is this, and the biological productivity of the species, what

470
00:30:07,162 --> 00:30:10,464
does the threat level need to be reduced so

471
00:30:10,504 --> 00:30:13,586
the population can recover? So we went through, Chelsea and

472
00:30:13,606 --> 00:30:16,968
I went through a series of like kind of a ladder

473
00:30:17,028 --> 00:30:20,270
structure of this is the top, but if we don't have this,

474
00:30:20,310 --> 00:30:24,132
let's go to this. If we don't have this, let's go to this. If we don't have this, let's go to this. So

475
00:30:24,272 --> 00:30:27,554
we are trying to make the recovery where you have made, you

476
00:30:28,275 --> 00:30:31,744
know, Thank you, Chelsea. The recovery

477
00:30:31,784 --> 00:30:35,045
plan, very flexible, depending on what types of

478
00:30:35,125 --> 00:30:38,846
information that we have. And as Chelsea indicated, the

479
00:30:38,886 --> 00:30:42,107
goal of being on the ESA is to get it off

480
00:30:42,187 --> 00:30:46,308
the ESA. We don't want this to be there in perpetuity. We

481
00:30:46,328 --> 00:30:50,149
want to set up a series of criteria that other countries can use, that

482
00:30:50,169 --> 00:30:53,570
the United States can use, that we can say,

483
00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,942
So if you look at the results, say, in a number of

484
00:31:00,002 --> 00:31:03,185
years, and when you look at the, I

485
00:31:03,225 --> 00:31:06,347
guess you go through an assessment again, and it's

486
00:31:06,387 --> 00:31:09,890
increased in the US and US waters, will

487
00:31:10,290 --> 00:31:13,713
that ever, say it's done really well, I know it takes longer

488
00:31:13,753 --> 00:31:17,276
than a few years, but say it's done really well, will

489
00:31:17,316 --> 00:31:20,738
you be able to take it off, say, the list if it gets to that point?

490
00:31:21,579 --> 00:31:26,021
before other countries have found that success? Even

491
00:31:26,061 --> 00:31:29,803
if it's a global species, but it's doing well in US waters, would

492
00:31:29,823 --> 00:31:33,384
the US take them off the endangered species or

493
00:31:35,450 --> 00:31:38,592
Because they've done better in in because of the the actions that have

494
00:31:38,612 --> 00:31:41,954
been taken Yeah, I mean, I'll let Chelsea Chelsea chime in after this because

495
00:31:42,014 --> 00:31:45,156
this is more her expertise than I am But like she said we set up

496
00:31:45,196 --> 00:31:48,658
management units, so it's not just u.s. Waters because this is

497
00:31:49,218 --> 00:31:52,380
right You know Shannon quite tips, you know, maybe found off,

498
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,882
you know, North Carolina in the summer But you know in the winter

499
00:31:55,922 --> 00:31:59,204
they may be off Brazil. So we set up management units. We

500
00:31:59,224 --> 00:32:02,727
have an Atlantic Management Union we have Indian

501
00:32:02,787 --> 00:32:06,691
Ocean Management Unit, we have an Eastern Pacific Management Unit, and

502
00:32:06,731 --> 00:32:10,035
we have a Western Pacific Management Unit. And

503
00:32:10,135 --> 00:32:14,059
what we decided to recover them that three

504
00:32:14,180 --> 00:32:17,283
of the four management units that we have, correct me

505
00:32:17,303 --> 00:32:21,168
if I'm wrong Kelsey, three of those must show recovery

506
00:32:21,248 --> 00:32:25,248
in order for the species to be downlisted, or

507
00:32:25,328 --> 00:32:28,750
in this case, offlisted because they're threatened of the Endangered Species Act.

508
00:32:28,770 --> 00:32:32,193
Because again, it's a global species. It's not just the

509
00:32:34,114 --> 00:32:37,756
Yeah, sorry. I'm really glad you mentioned that. Yeah, we

510
00:32:37,776 --> 00:32:41,939
did fold that into the criteria that all of the criteria

511
00:32:41,979 --> 00:32:45,702
that we've set have to be met in three of four management units. And

512
00:32:46,482 --> 00:32:49,684
one of those has to be one of the Pacific ones. So we

513
00:32:49,725 --> 00:32:53,448
have to have all ocean basins represented showing recovery

514
00:32:53,648 --> 00:32:57,273
in order to, at the species level, be able to delist

515
00:32:57,333 --> 00:33:01,137
it. So with listings

516
00:33:01,177 --> 00:33:04,962
under the Endangered Species Act, there are certain cases where we've divided

517
00:33:04,982 --> 00:33:08,386
up the species into lower taxonomic units

518
00:33:08,446 --> 00:33:12,389
called distinct population segments under the ESA. But

519
00:33:12,429 --> 00:33:15,711
in this case, we didn't have the rationale or the evidence to break

520
00:33:15,791 --> 00:33:19,293
up the global species into those smaller taxonomic levels.

521
00:33:19,473 --> 00:33:23,376
So, yeah, it would have to show that holistic

522
00:33:23,756 --> 00:33:27,058
level of recovery in those management units for us to consider the

523
00:33:28,038 --> 00:33:31,120
Yeah, and those management units, I mean, are not equal. I mean, one of

524
00:33:31,140 --> 00:33:34,222
the things that was very striking to Chelsea and I

525
00:33:34,242 --> 00:33:37,377
when we first started working this together is, The stock assessment in

526
00:33:37,417 --> 00:33:41,121
the Western Central Pacific, I mean, this is a robust, all

527
00:33:41,141 --> 00:33:44,403
the best biologically data show that the population had declined by almost

528
00:33:44,524 --> 00:33:48,007
99%. Wow. It's not a trend. Yeah.

529
00:33:48,147 --> 00:33:51,269
Stock assessment. Wow. And even in the

530
00:33:51,309 --> 00:33:56,105
RFMO, language,

531
00:33:56,185 --> 00:33:59,586
they even indicated that if fishing mortality increases, the

532
00:33:59,626 --> 00:34:03,187
population would go extinct. I mean, when I first read that from

533
00:34:03,227 --> 00:34:06,448
a stock assessment from RFMO, I was pretty much blown away. So,

534
00:34:07,028 --> 00:34:10,549
you know, in the Atlantic, it may not be as

535
00:34:10,669 --> 00:34:14,209
severe as it is in, say, the Indo-Pacific, but we

536
00:34:14,249 --> 00:34:17,770
wanted to make sure we had at least three of those four management units

537
00:34:18,430 --> 00:34:21,851
on the road to recovery before we could declare them no longer

538
00:34:25,423 --> 00:34:28,706
I'm sorry, regional fishery management organizations. We have mentioned

539
00:34:28,726 --> 00:34:32,429
before, I'm sorry for throwing acronyms around. It's okay. ICAT,

540
00:34:33,770 --> 00:34:37,433
IATTC, the various international management

541
00:34:37,493 --> 00:34:41,616
organizations that are primarily responsible for managing tunas and

542
00:34:41,756 --> 00:34:45,519
swordfish, but because sharks are such a significant bycatch

543
00:34:45,659 --> 00:34:49,022
issue for many of them now since the

544
00:34:49,062 --> 00:34:52,272
90s, they are now, you know, the

545
00:34:54,414 --> 00:34:58,837
And these organizations are... Are there any? Oh,

546
00:34:58,877 --> 00:35:02,200
I was just going to, I was just going to clarify that these organizations are to

547
00:35:02,340 --> 00:35:05,943
manage those species on the high seas. So this is to kind of capture,

548
00:35:05,963 --> 00:35:09,506
um, the fishing and things that are happening outside

549
00:35:12,688 --> 00:35:15,830
How many, can I ask, how many of these, uh, have you

550
00:35:15,850 --> 00:35:19,123
done for, for lasso breaks to date? you know, these

551
00:35:19,143 --> 00:35:22,684
endangered species recovery plans. How many, how many elasmobranchs

552
00:35:23,745 --> 00:35:27,206
Oh, that's a good question. I think smalltooth sawfish was the first, right,

553
00:35:27,746 --> 00:35:31,247
Yeah, I worked on smalltooth sawfish. That was the first recovery plan for,

554
00:35:31,267 --> 00:35:34,628
that was actually the first elasmobranch that was listed on the Endangered Species Act.

555
00:35:34,648 --> 00:35:38,589
So smalltooth sawfish, but it was only for the U.S. population. So

556
00:35:38,609 --> 00:35:42,170
it was a bit, I don't want to say easier or less challenging,

557
00:35:42,210 --> 00:35:45,311
but we only had a focus on the U.S. population. When Chelsea and I,

558
00:35:45,371 --> 00:35:48,534
you know, got into the recovery plan for Oceanic white tip, you know, All bets

559
00:35:48,575 --> 00:35:51,891
are off because we had to consider globally. how we

560
00:35:51,951 --> 00:35:55,092
are going to recover the species. So it was a

561
00:35:56,513 --> 00:35:59,834
I think we might be the second recovery plan

562
00:35:59,854 --> 00:36:03,215
that's been adopted for an elasmobranch after

563
00:36:03,255 --> 00:36:06,576
smalltooth sawfish. We have one in development for

564
00:36:06,616 --> 00:36:10,057
giant manta ray. And we've

565
00:36:10,077 --> 00:36:13,358
got a number of other elasmobranchs listed under the Endangered Species

566
00:36:13,438 --> 00:36:16,999
Act, but most of them are entirely foreign species.

567
00:36:17,039 --> 00:36:20,280
They don't occur in U.S. waters at all. And so

568
00:36:20,340 --> 00:36:23,881
we have based on priorities and things that we could do, have decided

569
00:36:23,941 --> 00:36:27,442
that it would be very, you know, the conservation benefit

570
00:36:27,462 --> 00:36:30,643
that completely foreign species would get would not reach that

571
00:36:33,084 --> 00:36:36,405
Yeah, I mean, scallop hammerhead are listed on the Endangered Species

572
00:36:36,485 --> 00:36:40,086
Act, but all the populations are outside U.S. waters, so

573
00:36:40,146 --> 00:36:43,527
we never move forward with developing, with the exception of the Caribbean, because

574
00:36:43,567 --> 00:36:46,861
we have Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. But as Chelsea had

575
00:36:46,881 --> 00:36:50,162
mentioned, due to priorities and other things, we focused on

576
00:36:50,182 --> 00:36:53,323
more species that have more of

577
00:36:56,043 --> 00:37:00,184
Yeah, I guess the thing is, for people listening, it's

578
00:37:00,244 --> 00:37:03,385
not a lot of species that have actually been done. It's only been

579
00:37:03,525 --> 00:37:06,905
the small tooth sawfish and

580
00:37:06,945 --> 00:37:10,566
then this oceanic white tip. So it's definitely a process

581
00:37:10,606 --> 00:37:13,807
and it's not like there's a lot of these things. There's certainly, I

582
00:37:13,827 --> 00:37:17,654
mean, I know species it could certainly be. The addressed

583
00:37:17,714 --> 00:37:20,895
and everything- it always come back like what you can do with

584
00:37:20,915 --> 00:37:24,016
the U. S. waters or versus outside U. S. right as

585
00:37:24,116 --> 00:37:27,317
well- as you know Dave there's many back

586
00:37:28,997 --> 00:37:32,298
List that were listed in the park that Ava probably talked about last time.

587
00:37:32,718 --> 00:37:35,819
That elicited on the nature species act but they're not found in waters and it's

588
00:37:35,839 --> 00:37:40,164
just indicated just their resources and time you know we can't. develop

589
00:37:40,184 --> 00:37:43,787
a recovery plan for species that are primarily found in Argentina or

590
00:37:45,368 --> 00:37:48,671
And as Chelsea said,

591
00:37:50,312 --> 00:37:53,695
It would be somewhat, here's a blueprint covering a

592
00:37:54,296 --> 00:37:57,938
species of skate that's found in Argentina. Here,

593
00:38:01,301 --> 00:38:04,444
Well, obviously a lot of the

594
00:38:04,484 --> 00:38:07,706
stuff that I do, because I go to a lot of these countries, as

595
00:38:07,766 --> 00:38:11,018
you know, John, Most of these people have no idea if you bring

596
00:38:11,058 --> 00:38:14,521
up an angel shark or some of these rays, they

597
00:38:14,541 --> 00:38:17,804
can't even really identify them. Ironically, the

598
00:38:17,844 --> 00:38:21,267
fishermen know them, but if you talk to some of the NGOs and the fisheries people

599
00:38:21,287 --> 00:38:24,889
there, they're just like, it's a shark, or it's a ray, and

600
00:38:26,391 --> 00:38:29,713
It's still same in the U.S., Dave, because we're still

601
00:38:32,235 --> 00:38:36,485
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well,

602
00:38:36,505 --> 00:38:39,889
thanks. I gotta say, thank you guys for coming on and talking about

603
00:38:39,949 --> 00:38:43,293
this project. I don't know if you have anything you'd like to say, kind

604
00:38:43,333 --> 00:38:46,536
of to wrap up. What's the future plans now? You got

605
00:38:46,556 --> 00:38:50,821
this recovery plan together? Any big

606
00:38:51,842 --> 00:38:55,446
Well, from the science perspective, I mean, I'm

607
00:38:55,466 --> 00:38:59,037
working with the more charitable Foundation has been very

608
00:38:59,097 --> 00:39:02,378
instrumental in providing funding to do a lot of work in the Bahamas, some

609
00:39:02,398 --> 00:39:06,020
of the initial work that Lucy Howie did and now Ben

610
00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:10,022
Carey Ford. Chelsea and I have been there

611
00:39:10,103 --> 00:39:13,548
several times. We've been fortunate enough to be taking part in that research. That

612
00:39:13,568 --> 00:39:17,270
research is going to continue now. We have funding from NOAA, so

613
00:39:17,710 --> 00:39:21,232
we're hoping that will continue the work that the research that's being conducted

614
00:39:21,252 --> 00:39:25,294
in Hawaii on post-release survivorship. And

615
00:39:25,334 --> 00:39:29,376
then again, ICAT is now actually funding

616
00:39:30,136 --> 00:39:33,878
satellite tag work that I'm using to put on

617
00:39:34,138 --> 00:39:37,680
oceanic white tips that are caught in the U.S. pelagic longline fishery to get information

618
00:39:37,700 --> 00:39:41,382
on post-release survivorship. So we'll have that bit of information that

619
00:39:41,742 --> 00:39:44,965
potentially will complement what's been already done in Hawaii. Because as

620
00:39:45,005 --> 00:39:48,287
you guys know, one longline fishery in the Pacific may not

621
00:39:48,407 --> 00:39:51,930
fish the same way as in the Atlantic. So we may have differences.

622
00:39:52,030 --> 00:39:55,333
And now Chelsea and I are now actually reaching out to colleagues we

623
00:39:55,373 --> 00:39:58,716
have in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission to expand our

624
00:39:58,776 --> 00:40:01,979
work over there. So we're going to be busy over the next few

625
00:40:08,486 --> 00:40:11,611
Yeah, no, it's just like a species. It's my, you know, one of my sharks that I

626
00:40:11,651 --> 00:40:14,877
fell in love with, you know, my favorite shark. So it was in my, we

627
00:40:20,172 --> 00:40:23,374
I would say that the next step really, once

628
00:40:23,394 --> 00:40:26,756
we have a recovery plan in place, you know, when John talks about

629
00:40:26,776 --> 00:40:30,338
a lot of the science and the research, I mean, those are some of those activities

630
00:40:30,398 --> 00:40:34,021
that we've outlined in what we call our implementation strategy. So

631
00:40:34,061 --> 00:40:37,943
it's a separate document that really outlines all of the on-the-ground

632
00:40:38,163 --> 00:40:42,206
activities that we want to do in order to support achieving the

633
00:40:42,226 --> 00:40:45,648
goals of the recovery plan and getting those criteria met. So really

634
00:40:45,688 --> 00:40:49,610
right now, we're kind of going to be shifting into that implementation phase.

635
00:40:49,630 --> 00:40:53,651
So this whole time, we've been doing this planning, we've been getting this document together, seeking

636
00:40:53,711 --> 00:40:57,071
input, getting feedback, involving a lot of people. And now

637
00:40:57,111 --> 00:41:00,432
we really want to start implementing the plan. So we can get

638
00:41:00,472 --> 00:41:03,953
those projects on the ground and start making some progress towards

639
00:41:04,593 --> 00:41:07,734
Yeah, yeah, to add on that, it's, you know, we're just a handful of

640
00:41:07,794 --> 00:41:11,155
scientists, you know, there's a small group of us at FIU and

641
00:41:11,195 --> 00:41:14,496
Mo that are doing most of the work in the Atlantic and some people

642
00:41:14,516 --> 00:41:17,935
in the Pacific. So anyone out there, you know, look at the recovery

643
00:41:17,975 --> 00:41:21,703
plan if there's some research focus that you feel can

644
00:41:21,783 --> 00:41:25,236
be helped. I mean, can be added to help with the recovery plan,

645
00:41:25,256 --> 00:41:28,558
you know, write grants and stuff because, you know, it's one

646
00:41:28,578 --> 00:41:32,359
of these species that really has, you know, kind

647
00:41:32,399 --> 00:41:35,901
of slipped through the cracks a little bit. And we are hoping that,

648
00:41:36,161 --> 00:41:39,323
you know, now with more broader reaches with

649
00:41:39,343 --> 00:41:42,884
the recovery plan and what Chelsea outlined, as I said, about outlining an invitation plan

650
00:41:42,904 --> 00:41:46,266
where hopefully more people will get on board and start to try to, you

651
00:41:49,252 --> 00:41:52,534
Sounds like a great opportunity for some graduate work for some

652
00:41:56,918 --> 00:42:00,300
Great. Well, thank you both for coming on the program today.

653
00:42:00,340 --> 00:42:03,622
And we'll definitely have to have each of you back on to do a more deep dive into your

654
00:42:04,063 --> 00:42:07,165
careers and your personal journeys. But thanks for coming on and

655
00:42:11,817 --> 00:42:15,201
Thank you Chelsea and John for joining us on today's

656
00:42:15,301 --> 00:42:18,765
episode of the Beyond Jaws podcast. Dave, Oceanic White

657
00:42:18,785 --> 00:42:22,810
Tips, global population, global recovery plan. I

658
00:42:22,850 --> 00:42:25,993
find it really interesting when a government document comes out

659
00:42:26,014 --> 00:42:30,295
and they're talking about a global recovery plan. you

660
00:42:30,315 --> 00:42:33,617
know, how do you, how does, like, I just, I thought that was interesting of how they talked

661
00:42:33,657 --> 00:42:36,840
about it, like what they suggested, and even though that they suggest things

662
00:42:36,860 --> 00:42:40,362
that may not happen, that's gotta be frustrating from

663
00:42:43,164 --> 00:42:46,987
Yeah, it is, because, you know, you have things

664
00:42:47,007 --> 00:42:50,129
within, you know, the national jurisdictions of countries where you go out

665
00:42:50,169 --> 00:42:53,331
like 200 miles off the coast, you have some, you can

666
00:42:53,371 --> 00:42:56,593
have some authority, depending on the country, to

667
00:42:56,633 --> 00:43:00,188
do something. But when you get out into the international waters, areas

668
00:43:00,268 --> 00:43:03,529
beyond national jurisdictions. They

669
00:43:03,549 --> 00:43:07,231
call them RFMOs as well, regional fisheries

670
00:43:07,291 --> 00:43:10,652
management areas. That's a really

671
00:43:10,732 --> 00:43:14,474
tough nut to monitor and to

672
00:43:14,554 --> 00:43:17,715
follow. And of course, the oceanic white tips, the big thing

673
00:43:17,735 --> 00:43:21,817
with them are the fins. They're huge in the fin trade. And

674
00:43:21,917 --> 00:43:25,178
so when you're out there in the ocean, the high seas like

675
00:43:25,238 --> 00:43:28,813
that, You can take a lot more fins than if you're, if you're not taking the carcasses,

676
00:43:28,833 --> 00:43:32,155
you're just taking the fins. You can take a lot of sharks if you're just taking the fins.

677
00:43:32,175 --> 00:43:36,096
So that's a huge concern. That's why there's a lot of areas they talk about, uh,

678
00:43:36,136 --> 00:43:39,498
these populations that have declined significantly. And,

679
00:43:39,758 --> 00:43:42,959
uh, so there's, so they're, they're definitely of a concern. It's

680
00:43:42,999 --> 00:43:46,320
interesting that they commented on during the show about the one,

681
00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,782
uh, a movie we talked about once a while, blue water, white death,

682
00:43:49,842 --> 00:43:53,263
about how there was a lot of oceanic white tips off Durban, South

683
00:43:53,403 --> 00:43:56,673
Africa. And of course I shared a story that's. They,

684
00:43:56,833 --> 00:44:00,376
that is, I do recall living there, that they were at one time fairly,

685
00:44:00,436 --> 00:44:03,678
very common out there. And of course, oceanic white tips are

686
00:44:03,738 --> 00:44:07,060
also one of the four or five most dangerous sharks in the world,

687
00:44:07,100 --> 00:44:10,322
that they can be very aggressive. And if you're a person that happens

688
00:44:10,342 --> 00:44:13,605
to be stuck at sea, their very famous World

689
00:44:13,625 --> 00:44:17,047
War II incident, the USS Indianapolis, which was sank

690
00:44:17,407 --> 00:44:20,870
in the sea, it had 900 survivors of which only about

691
00:44:21,050 --> 00:44:24,246
300 survived the time, in the sea there

692
00:44:24,266 --> 00:44:27,770
and a lot of, a number of people were attacked by sharks and they figure it was probably mostly

693
00:44:27,830 --> 00:44:31,174
oceanic white tips. Cause that's tips to be where you find them in the open

694
00:44:34,675 --> 00:44:37,737
Yeah, that makes the danger a

695
00:44:38,318 --> 00:44:41,460
lot more. But the concern here is the

696
00:44:41,500 --> 00:44:45,523
conservation aspect and why they're getting lower

697
00:44:45,583 --> 00:44:49,346
and what that recovery plan is. And these recovery plans are necessary. Somebody's

698
00:44:49,366 --> 00:44:53,469
got to start them and somebody's got to share them and then let the conversations you

699
00:44:53,489 --> 00:44:57,031
know, grow from there and, and, and make sure that other countries

700
00:44:57,071 --> 00:45:00,933
are involved that where these oceanic white tips take place, uh,

701
00:45:01,033 --> 00:45:04,134
and be able to, uh, work together to, you know, come up

702
00:45:04,174 --> 00:45:07,396
with management plans that work for everybody. Or, you know, maybe

703
00:45:09,037 --> 00:45:12,699
Right. I mean, a lot of it was, as he mentioned, were suggestions they put out for these different countries.

704
00:45:12,779 --> 00:45:16,020
And of course, these are high seas, so it's gonna be a little different than

705
00:45:16,040 --> 00:45:19,828
a lot of the, oftentimes we talk about food security and a lot of these, poorer

706
00:45:19,928 --> 00:45:23,830
countries and stuff. And that, you know, those are mostly going to be mostly coastal fisheries, you

707
00:45:23,850 --> 00:45:27,211
know, whereas a oceanic white tip, you have to get, you have to get fairly far

708
00:45:27,271 --> 00:45:31,533
offshore. And it's probably not going to, I don't want to say it's coastal

709
00:45:31,553 --> 00:45:35,115
fishery won't be impacted, but probably not as much. It's going to be more like high seas

710
00:45:35,835 --> 00:45:39,376
fisheries, but you have issues of like, you know, other countries coming into

711
00:45:39,436 --> 00:45:42,718
fishing, uh, in the international waters of, of

712
00:45:42,798 --> 00:45:45,939
poor countries that don't have a coast guard. They don't have a Navy to send out there to,

713
00:45:46,985 --> 00:45:50,266
have these ships removed. They come in and fish in their international waters and that, and that's

714
00:45:50,326 --> 00:45:54,308
impacting again, the oceanic white tip populations. And,

715
00:45:54,328 --> 00:45:58,149
uh, you know, I think another thing too, is we, you know, we don't really know a lot about the population structure

716
00:45:58,749 --> 00:46:01,830
of a lot of these oceanic white tip sharks globally. You know,

717
00:46:01,850 --> 00:46:05,251
in some areas, like in the U S you'll have a little more information, uh,

718
00:46:05,271 --> 00:46:08,453
probably in the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaiian islands, but you

719
00:46:08,473 --> 00:46:11,954
get in a lot of these areas, like in the Indian ocean, it's really hard

720
00:46:12,054 --> 00:46:15,555
to, to get a good handle on what's, what's the population structure like.

721
00:46:16,241 --> 00:46:19,584
And so there's a lot of, uh, kind of gosh, gosh, and by golly, what, what

722
00:46:19,605 --> 00:46:23,288
are they, what are they, what's the population like out here? Yeah. So

723
00:46:23,308 --> 00:46:26,712
it was fascinating to hear it. I think it was, hopefully it was an interesting episode

724
00:46:26,732 --> 00:46:29,855
for people to kind of get a little peek behind the scenes of what goes on

725
00:46:29,895 --> 00:46:33,418
when they do these, um, these types of recovery

726
00:46:33,458 --> 00:46:36,762
plans, which this is really like the first one they've done for a shark.

727
00:46:36,782 --> 00:46:40,011
They've done one for the sawfish. that John mentioned as

728
00:46:43,235 --> 00:46:46,700
Oh, which is nice. It's great to be able to have these recovery

729
00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:50,044
plans in place. Just going back to your high seas, you know, I think this is something

730
00:46:50,104 --> 00:46:53,849
for the, the oceanic white tip will benefit from a high seas treaty. you

731
00:46:53,869 --> 00:46:57,112
know, that's being hopefully ratified by a good number

732
00:46:57,132 --> 00:47:00,375
of countries. I think they need like 60 some odd to ratify it. So

733
00:47:00,815 --> 00:47:04,218
check if your country is ratifying it. I know Canada hasn't ratified

734
00:47:04,258 --> 00:47:07,521
it yet. I'm hoping they'll do it soon. But that's going to be something

735
00:47:07,541 --> 00:47:10,904
that's going to play an important part in this Oceanic White

736
00:47:10,924 --> 00:47:14,187
Tip global distribution and the recovery plan. So make sure your

737
00:47:14,227 --> 00:47:17,870
country's doing that. So talk to your local officials. But

738
00:47:18,210 --> 00:47:21,553
Dave, thanks so much. And we appreciate John and Chelsea

739
00:47:21,573 --> 00:47:25,296
for coming on the podcast to be able to share this this important report with

740
00:47:25,476 --> 00:47:28,659
us. We really appreciate it. We'll put a link if we have the

741
00:47:28,679 --> 00:47:31,881
chance to their their socials as well as if we can

742
00:47:31,921 --> 00:47:35,284
to the report. And Dave, if people want to get a hold of you and

743
00:47:37,766 --> 00:47:41,149
It's on Instagram. It's Lost Shark Guy, on

744
00:47:41,329 --> 00:47:44,599
ex Lost Shark Guy, Facebook Lost Sharks. And

745
00:47:44,900 --> 00:47:48,745
yeah, please go to our YouTube channel, Beyond Jaws Podcast,

746
00:47:48,785 --> 00:47:52,329
and subscribe. And please leave us a message anywhere

747
00:47:52,389 --> 00:47:55,501
on our social media. We love hearing from you. hearing what

748
00:47:56,502 --> 00:48:00,005
Absolutely. Thank you so much. And we appreciate everybody for listening to

749
00:48:00,045 --> 00:48:03,268
this podcast and the continued loyalty and listening to this podcast. We

750
00:48:03,288 --> 00:48:06,671
really appreciate that. And thank you so much for joining us on this bonus episode

751
00:48:06,771 --> 00:48:10,214
of the Beyond Jaws podcast for Andrew and I, or Andrew and I, for

752
00:48:10,254 --> 00:48:13,477
Dave and I. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. We'll talk to