Animal Welfare Institute Born Free USA Center for Biological Diversity

CORALations Defenders of Wildlife Earthjustice Endangered Species Coalition

Environmental Investigation Agency Environmental Protection Information Center For
the Fishes Friends of the Earth Great Old Broads for Wilderness Gulf Restoration
Network Humane Society of the United States International Fund for Animal Welfare
Klamath Forest Alliance Living Oceans Foundation Natural Resources Defense Council
Oceana Sierra Club Snake Advocates Preservation Surfrider Foundation Turtle
Island Restoration Network Wildlands Network World Wildlife Fund

October XX, 2016

Dear Senator,

On behalf of our millions of members and supporters nationwide, we write to express our
opposition to H.R. 4245, a bill to exempt exportation of certain echinoderms and mollusks from
licensing requirements under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. This harmful legislation
could impact conservation of numerous imperiled marine species and obstruct efforts to prevent
wildlife trafficking and illegal trade. We strongly urge you to reject this damaging bill, which
seeks to weaken environmental safeguards under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and would
undermine the United States role as a leader in implementing the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The United States should
continue to represent the gold standard for fulfilling this vital treaty, and must not pass
legislation that severely handicaps our ability to monitor trade in highly coveted ocean species.

H.R. 4245 attempts to broadly exempt over 2,500 species of echinoderms and mollusks
commonly known as sea urchins, sea cucumbers, squid, octopus, and cuttlefish, from existing
export licensing requirements under Section 9(d)(1) of the Endangered Species Act, unless they
are currently listed under the ESA, CITES, or the Lacey Act. The ESAs export licensing regime
directs the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to inspect shipments of fish and wildlife
exiting U.S. borders and plays a vital role in protecting imperiled species by authorizing the
agency to monitor trade. Exempting thousands of echinoderms and mollusks from export
licensing would make it nearly impossible for the Service to track these highly vulnerable marine
species to ensure they are not overexploited due to trade, and could hamper the agencys ability
to enforce existing CITES reporting requirements.

H.R. 4245 could create loopholes for wildlife trafficking, undermine law enforcements efforts to
intercept illegal trade in marine wildlife, and is inconsistent with recent U.S. government efforts
to increase the traceability of seafood products in order to address significant problems with
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.1 By attempting to prohibit export inspections

1
See e.g., Seafood Import Monitoring Program, 81 Fed. Reg. 6,210 (Feb. 5, 2016). The National Marine Fisheries
Service has identified sea cucumbers as species at increased risk for both IUU fishing and seafood fraud, due to a
history of violations and/or species substitutions. Sea cucumbers lack catch documentation scheme throughout their
geographic range, they are transshipped in significant quantities, and are prone to mislabeling or falsification of
export documentation to conceal illegally-harvested products. See, NMFS, PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE ON
for thousands of species, this legislation would increase opportunities to comingle vulnerable
species or those that are illegal to harvest together within shipments of exempted species,
thereby making it easier for illegal fisheries and poachers to operate. As demand for seafood
products increases globally, governments around the globe are acting accordingly to protect
marine species. For instance, at the most recent CITES meeting in South Africa, members voted
to regulate the trade in two shark species, mobula rays, and the chambered nautilus. H.R. 4245 is
therefore a significant step backwards for conservation in the U.S. and worldwide.

Several echinoderms, especially sea cucumbers and sea urchins, are already threatened with
overexploitation and extinction around the world. They are particularly vulnerable to
overfishing because their ability to successfully reproducings depends on maintaining high
population densities on the ocean floor.. Demand in sea cucumbers and sea urchins has
skyrocketed in the past few decades, primarily due to increased demand in Asia, where they are
considered high-priced delicacies. As a result, 66 species of echinoderms are already considered
overexploited, and a dozen species of sea cucumber are listed as endangered or vulnerable by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature.2

Unfortunately, over 75 percent of global sea cucumber fisheries are unsustainable, and fishermen
are shifting from high-value species to low-value species as stocks become depleted.3 Sea
cucumber fisheries in Washington, Florida, Maine and Alaska are already experiencing
significant declines. For example, in southeast Alaska the giant California sea cucumber
(Apostichopus californicus) is decreasing in abundance by approximately 5 percent per year.4
By eliminating tracking and inspection of exports, H.R. 4245 could make it much more difficult
for states to ensure that their sea cucumber fisheries do not reach unsustainable levels.

While we understand that there may be isolated, local concerns about the Services ability to
complete export inspections in a timely manner, eliminating all export inspections and
accompanying licensing fees for virtually all non-protected sea cucumber and urchin, squid,
octopus and cuttlefish species nationwide is not the solution. The Services inspection program
is our main front-line defense against illegal international trade and wildlife trafficking. Making
it harder to prevent unsustainable and illegal trade in vulnerable species can only set a dangerous
precedent to exempt other entire taxonomic groups from the Endangered Species Act and CITES
inspection regimes.5 Instead of undermining the Services mandate to track wildlife trade,
Congress should ensure that the agency has appropriate funds to complete all of its conservation

COMBATING ILLEGAL UNREPORTED AND UNREGULATED (IUU) FISHING AND SEAFOOD FRAUD ACTION PLAN (Oct.
30, 2015), available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/10/30/2015-27780/presidential-task-force-
on-combating-illegal-unreported-and-unregulated-iuu-fishing-and-seafood.
2
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2, see www.iucnredlist.org (accessed October 1, 2016).
3
Anderson, S., Flemming, J., Watson, R., & Lotze, H. (2011). Serial exploitation of global sea cucumber fisheries.
Fish and Fisheries , 12, 317-339.
4
Clark, J., Pritchett, M., & Hebert, K. (2009). Status of sea cucumber stocks in Southeast Alaska and evaluation of
the stock assessment program. Fishery Data Series No. 9-12
5
The Service has identified numerous invasive and injurious species being smuggled into the U.S. by taking
advantage of the existing shellfish and fisheries product exemption. For example, in 2015 the Service detected and
investigated cases of large-scale importation of illegally harvested sea cucumbers and totoaba swim bladders, the
fishing of which has led vaquita porpoise populations to catastrophically decline to fewer than 60 individuals.
missions, including its licensing and inspection program. Rolling back key regulatory provisions
out of expediency would have significant environmental consequences for years to come.

We strongly urge you to stand up for wildlife and our ocean resources by opposing H.R. 4245.

Sincerely,

Animal Welfare Institute

Born Free USA
Center for Biological Diversity
CORALations
Defenders of Wildlife
Earthjustice
Endangered Species Coalition
Environmental Investigation Agency
Environmental Protection Information Center
For the Fishes
Friends of the Earth
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Gulf Restoration Network
Humane Society of the United States
International Fund for Animal Welfare
Klamath Forest Alliance
Living Oceans Foundation
Natural Resources Defense Council
Oceana
Sierra Club
Snake Advocates Preservation
Surfrider Foundation
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Wildlands Network
World Wildlife Fund