Listing Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on Petitions To List the Thorny Skate (Amblyraja radiata) Under the Endangered Species Act

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [Docket No. 111205720-1718-01] RIN 0648-XA740 AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding. SUMMARY: We, NMFS, announce 90-day finding for petitions to list the thorny skate ( Amblyraja radiata ) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that the petitions do not present substantial scientific information indicating the petitioned actions may be warranted. Accordingly, we will not initiate a review of the status of thorny skate at this time. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Damon-Randall, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office (978) 282-8485 or Marta Nammack, NMFS, Office of Protected Resources (301) 427-8469. The petition and other pertinent information are also available electronically at the NMFS Web site at http://www.nero.noaa.gov/​prot_​res/​CandidateSpeciesProgram/​csr.htm . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background On August 11, 2011, we received a petition from the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) requesting that we list, as a Distinct Population Segment (DPS), the Northwest Atlantic population of thorny skates as endangered or threatened throughout all or a significant portion of its range. In the alternative, AWI asked that we list the U.S. DPS of the thorny skate as endangered. AWI also requests the designation of critical habitat for the thorny skate in U.S. wat…