U.S. Promotes Downgrade of International Bald Eagle Protection

WASHINGTON, DC, May 4, 2004 (ENS) - The United States intends to propose removal of the country's national bird, the bald eagle, from the highest level of protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) when the next conference of the parties to the treaty convenes in October in Bangkok.

Kenneth Stansell, assistant director for international affairs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told a congressional subcommittee on international wildlife conservation April 28 that since the bald eagle is no longer listed as "endangered" under U.S. law and no longer subject to significant levels of trade, the United States may submit a proposal to transfer this species from CITES Appendix I to Appendix II.

Appendix I lists species that are threatened with extinction and commercial international trade in these species is prohibited except for scientific research.

Appendix II lists species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled. Trade is allowed under permits if it will not be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild.

Bald eagles were brought to the brink of extinction in the 1960s when DDT and other pesticides harmed both the adult birds and the eggs that they laid. The eggshells became too thin to survive incubation. Eggs that were not crushed during incubation often did not hatch, due to high levels of DDT and its derivatives.

Bald eagles were officially declared an endangered species in 1967 in all areas of the Lower 48 states, under a law that preceded the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

But Stansell told the subcommittee that bald eagle populations have grown rapidly throughout much of their range, and that populations continue to grow.

In July of 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded the status of bald eagles in the lower 48 states from endangered to threatened.

There were an estimated 6,471 breeding pairs in the Lower 48 states in 2000, Stansell said. Since CITES provisions only address international trade, he said the proposed downlisting would likely have little or no affect on additional protections for the bald eagle.

"We manage the largely non-commercial demand for this species - ceremonial uses by U.S. and Canadian indigenous peoples - through our National Eagle and Wildlife Property Repository which collects bald eagle corpses and parts from across the country for eventual distribution to federally recognized U.S. Native American tribes through a permitting process," Stansell explained.

There are other federal and state laws and regulations that protect bald eagles in addition to the Endangered Species Act, such as the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and bilateral treaties between the United States and other countries for the conservation of migratory birds, and these are sufficient for the bird's protection, Stansell said.

In other proposals, the U.S. CITES delegation will oppose attempts by other nations to lift most protected status for severla species of whales. In final proposals the U.S. government will deliver to the CITES Secretariat by Wednesday, Stansell said the United States favors keeping Byrde's whales and minke whales under Appendix I.

"Proposals to downlist stocks of both Bryde's whales and minke whales from Appendix I to II by Japan have been defeated at the last four CITES meetings," Stansell said. "If adopted, these proposals would re-open international commercial trade in whale products, and could foster increased poaching of protected whale species."

Still, Stansell said the United States continues to participate in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) efforts to develop a Revised Management Scheme that includes an effective inspection and observation scheme for use in the event that the current (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling is lifted.

The United States will likely submit a proposal to list the humphead wrasse under Appendix II as a result of continued illegal and unsustainable trade, lack of coordinated management, a vulnerable life history, and the prominence of international markets. Fiji may be a possible co-sponsor of the proposal.

Researchers remain concerned over the status of the humphead wrasse because of its importance as a luxury food item and a high market value that is predicted to rise with increasing rarity of the species.

The United States submitted a proposal to list the species under Appendix II at the last CITES meeting. The proposal received a simple majority of votes, but it failed to gain the required two-thirds majority. Results of recent research on the effects of trade on the status of the species should help support resubmission, Stansell said.

Despite debates that arise over various species, Stansell described CITES as "one of the most effective forces in the world today for conservation of fauna and flora, both in halting the trade in species which are threatened with extinction and in fostering sustainable trade in other vulnerable species."