Notice of 12-Month Findings on a Petition To List the Tope Shark as Threatened or Endangered Under the Endangered Species Act and Proposed Listing of Two Distinct Population Segments of Tope Shark as Threatened

Please see attached file: Defend Them All and the Center for Biological Diversity support NMFS's proposed threatened listings for the Southern Africa and Southwest Atlantic DPSs of the Tope Shark, but urge NMFS to strengthen the final rule. The attached comment explains why NMFS should reconsider its not-warranted findings for the Northeast Pacific, Southeast Pacific, Northeast Atlantic, and Southwest Pacific DPSs; address DPS-level risks, cumulative threats, data gaps, and regulatory inadequacies; and adopt protective regulations under ESA sections 4(d) and 4(e). In particular, the comment asks NMFS to list the Northeast Pacific DPS as threatened or endangered, conduct a legally adequate significant-portion-of-its-range analysis for southern California, Baja California, and adjacent waters, reconsider the Southeast Pacific DPS in light of substantial uncertainty, evaluate recent trade and product-identification evidence, issue protective 4(d) regulations for threatened DPSs, and adopt a similarity-of-appearance rule for relevant lookalike species and product categories.