Number: 1987-27
WHEREAS, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to list the population of Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii dougallii) that nests in northeastern North America as endangered and to determine the Caribbean populations, including those of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as threatened; and
WHEREAS, the Roseate Tern population of the Puerto Rico Bank, including those of the British Virgin Islands, is the largest in the Caribbean; and
WHEREAS, the trapping, netting and taking of eggs for human food in South America and the Caribbean is a major cause of the recent population decline; and
WHEREAS, the illegal harvest of eggs in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico for food is common on the small offshore islands surrounding Culebra, St. Thomas, and St. John’s in the United States Territories; and
WHEREAS, federally funded local agencies lack sufficient fiscal and personnel resources to protect these colonies from the illegal taking of eggs and harassment of brooding adults;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 19-22, 1987, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, encourages the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior to increase efforts to protect the Roseate Tern and its habitat in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands by (1) listing the Roseate Tern as a threatened species and designating its critical habitat in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, (2) providing increased funds for law enforcement and monitoring of nesting habitat, and (3) taking whatever additional steps are deemed necessary to protect the species.