Tag Archives: Animal Welfare Institute (AWI)

National Marine Fisheries Service Accepts Petition to List Thorny Skate under the Endangered Species Act

thorny skateIn response to a petition from Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) to list thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) under the Endangered Species Act, we have prepared a 90-day finding. We accept the petition and are initiating a review of the status of the species. The petitioners claim that the species numbers have been declining since the 1970s, and that the species is threatened by illegal landings, bycatch and discard mortality, inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms (related to fishing), global climate change and hypoxia, and natural stochastic events. Read the rest here 08:32

Here we go again. Animal Welfare Groups Seek Protection for Thorny Skate

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and Defenders of Wildlife have asked the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list the Northwest Atlantic population of the thorny skate as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. “This species is in serious trouble in the Northwest Atlantic, and if we don’t move to protect it now, we may never see it in this range again,” said senior staff attorney Jane Davenport at Defenders of Wildlife. Shut up. Read the rest here  20:48