90-day Finding for Elkhorn and Staghorn Corals

NMFS has announced a 90-day finding for the petition from Palm Beach County Reef Rescue to revise elkhorn and staghorn corals' critical habitat.

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access:

We, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), announce a 90-day finding for a petition to revise elkhorn (Acropora palmata) and staghorn (A. cervicornis) corals' critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended. Elkhorn and staghorn corals are listed as threatened throughout their ranges and have designated critical habitat consisting of substrate of suitable quality and availability to support larval settlement and recruitment and the reattachment and recruitment of asexual fragments in water depths shallower than 30 meters in four areas in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The petition seeks to extend the northern boundary of designated critical habitat in the Florida area to the Lake Worth Inlet, approximately 15.5 miles (24.9 km) north of the current boundary at Boynton Beach Inlet. We find that the petition presents substantial scientific information that the revision may be warranted. We are soliciting information and comments pertaining to this request for
revision of critical habitat.

Written comments and information related to this petition finding or the petitioned action must be received by August 26, 2009.

Read the entire announcement for the comment addresses at the Federal Register.