NOAA considering petition to review critical habitat for elkhorn and staghorn coral.

2008 NOAA

Press Release: DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / 50 CFR Part 226 / Listing Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Designating Critical Habitat; 90–day Finding for a Petition to Revise Designated Critical Habitat for Elkhorn and Staghorn Corals
ACTION: Notice of petition finding; request for information and comments.

http://www.esablawg.com/esalaw/ESBlawg.nsf/d6plinks/KRII-7UL23S

Please comment on this article, ‘for Coral Reefs’, include a name and weblink. Critical times call for critical actions.

Thanks. William

http://www.esablawg.com/esalaw/ESBlawg.nsf/d6plinks/KRII-7UL23S

When you renew your DMV Florida License Plate you can also upgrade to an awesome program with the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.

Electric car and EarthRehab Green License Plate

4 Specialty license plates benefit the 4 sectors of this Oceanic Environmental Research Institute, that has recently Coop’ed with NOAA.  -press release:

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090506_institute.html

Additionally you can choose the EarthRehab Green License Plate for FREE, as a token of our appreciation of your support of Harbor Branch.

http://www.fau.edu/hboi/

License Plate page is here:

http://www.fau.edu/hboi/LicensePlates/index.php

As a Native Floridian and a lover of water I am pleased that the EPA has finally addressed our Water Quality Crisis. I have copied the following passage from this 2009 determination by the EPA:
http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/rules/fl-determination20090114.pdf

Magnitude of Nutrient Over-Enrichment in Florida
Water quality degradation due to nutrient over-enrichment is a significant
environmental issue in Florida. Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection has acknowledged and documented the magnitude of over-enrichment. According to Florida’s 2008 Integrated Report,6 approximately 1,000 miles of rivers and streams, 350,000 acres of lakes, and 900 square miles of estuaries are impaired for nutrients in the State. To put this into context, these values represent approximately 16% of the assessed river and stream miles, 36% of the assessed lake acres, and 25% of the assessed square miles of estuaries that Florida has listed as impaired under the IWR. The actual number of miles and acres of waters impaired for nutrients is likely higher, as many waters currently classified as “unassessed” may also be impaired.
This conclusion is based upon a range of available information, including the vastmamounts of monitoring data that exist on nutrient-related parameters in Florida waters. With almost 800,000 nutrient-related data points in STORET (including nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity), Florida has substantially more data points than any other State or Territory to clearly characterize the magnitude of its nutrient challenges.

How can YOU help???
*Please sign our Enforce the Federal Clean Water Act for Florida petition: (many of you already have, Thanks.)
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/enforce-the-federal-clean-water-act
this petition is also available on Care2 and Facebook.

William Djubin
Founder
EarthRehab

visit the EarthRehab campaign here, and join the mission to Save this Planet. Click here

April 13, 2009 A direct violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Link

Sometimes I really wonder what’s going on up here in Jupiter..

Jupiter Inlet violation of the Endangered Species Act

Sometimes I really wonder what’s going on up here in Jupiter..
A renourishment dredge of sediment from the intercoastal, at night with heavy lighting and heavy equipment during Sea Turtle nesting season.
 
Unbelievable.
 
William Djubin
Founder
EarthRehab

After watching this video titled ‘Canary in a coal mine’ which was created by Oceanographers and Ocean Scientists it is easy to understand that Coral Reef Eco-systems are the Kidneys of the Oceans and consequentially the entire planet.

Wow, and now here are some statistics for you.

>70% of the Earth is Ocean while less than 1/4 of 1%  of the Oceans host coral reef colonies.

>80% of the global coral reefs are in a stressed out stage due to overfishing, pollution, global climate change, carbon, acidification, bleaching, invasive species, and disease.

<2% of the Earth is rainforests, it now should be easy to see which habitat sequests the most carbon and produces the most oxygen with photosynthesis by phytoplankton.

Please sign our Enforce the Federal Clean Water Act petition online.

EarthRehab.com

Florida Bay dead-zone

Attached is information about the 2009 Ocean Science Lecture Series offered by Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University. This educational outreach program provides a forum for Harbor Branch/FAU scientists to share their most recent discoveries with our neighboring communities. The series began on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 and continues weekly through April 1, 2009. Lectures are held weekly on Wednesday at 4 and 7 PM. Admission to this popular lecture series is free.

This Wednesday’s lecture (January 28), “Harmful Algal Blooms on Caribbean Coral Reefs,” will feature Dr. Brian Lapointe, Research Professor in the Center for Marine Ecosystem Health at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University. While much of his work has been centered in the Florida Keys, Dr. Lapointe will present an overview of the pioneering work he and his colleagues performed in various parts of the Caribbean region, including the Belize Barrier Reef, Martinique, Jamaica, and Bonaire. He will also provide an update of his long-term monitoring at Looe Key reef in the lower Florida Keys, which represents the longest low-level nutrient record for a coral reef anywhere in the world. Dr. Lapointe will also discuss recent legislation and policy changes that are intended to improve water quality by reducing excessive nutrient pollution of South Florida’s coastal waters.

Dr. Lapointe’s research is funded in part by the SAVE OUR SEAS Florida specialty license plate. The Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution Foundation directs proceeds from the sale of these plates to support research on vital ecosystems like the Indian River Lagoon, sea grass, and coral reef communities.
http://wise.fau.edu/hboi/
and
http://www.earthrehab.com

Florida reefs North of the Boynton Beach Inlet are denied as critical habitat, and the protection that comes with the designation.  

Elkhorn Coral in PR

While I have never seen a Staghorn or Elkhorn coral on North Palm ot Martin County reefs, that does not mean that they do not exist. And to make a claim that Coral Cove Park is not Critical Habitat for Endangered and Threatened Species is absolutely not true.

I can list over 20 species that utilize North Palm Beach and Martin Counties patch reefs as refuge, habitat, rehabilitation, cleaning station,  and spawning grounds

To say that I am disappointed is an understatement; my worst-case scenario has played out. North Palm Beach County reefs will go unprotected for 2009

Thanks go to NOAA and Reef Rescue for all of their hard work and efforts.

2 emails written to me:

First from DEP/NOAA/SEFCRI

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Don’t know if you caught this in the Herald on Monday. The title was different in the print version, but the story is the same.

Miami Herald story

Second from Ed Tichenor Reef Rescue

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Federal Agency Cuts Coral Protection Area

Critical Habitat for Palm Beach County Cut in Half

As required by the Endangered Species Act, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service has finalized the critical habitat designations for Elkhorn and Staghorn (Acropora) corals effective December 26, 2008. All of Palm Beach County was originally proposed to be included in the designated area. But when the final rule was published half of the county was eliminated. NOAA claims, in comments published in the Federal Register, they have no knowledge of either species of Acroporahistorically or presently occurring north of the Boynton Beach Inlet.

This is simply not true. Reef Rescue and FDEP biologists have supplied data documenting historical and living Staghorn colonies in the area NOAA now claims they have no knowledge of Acropora occurring.

The decision to eliminate half of the county is not based on science but rather appears NOAA caved to the political influence of wealthy oceanfront towns whose beach renourishment projects might be jeopardized by the critical habitat designation.

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Read the Palm Beach Post