Endangered Species Act Status Review of Bumphead Parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum)

On January 4, 2010, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) received a petition from WildEarth Guardians to list bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In response, NMFS issued a 90-day finding (75 Fed. Reg.16713 (Apr. 2, 2010)), wherein the petition was determined to contain substantial information indicating that listing the species may be warranted. Thus, NMFS initiated a comprehensive status review of bumphead parrotfish, which was completed jointly by our Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) and Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO). PIFSC established a Bumphead Parrotfish Biological Review Team (BRT) to complete a biological report on the status of the species and threats to the species (hereafter “BRT Report”, cited as Kobayashi et al. 2011). PIRO staff completed this report on management activities affecting the species across its range, including existing regulatory mechanisms and nonregulatory conservation efforts (hereafter “Management Report”). The BRT Report and Management Report together constitute the comprehensive bumphead parrotfish status review.