Nautilis Taxa Fisheries and Social Surveys

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The University of Washington (UW) and its partners of the Pacific Northwest CESU (Cooperative Ecological Stuides Unit) have the particular expertise, field experience, and country contacts needed to conduct field research on extant nautiloid cephalopods in the genus Nautilus (cahmbered nautilus, or nautilus) in two locations in order to assess their population numbers and conduct local fisher and market surveys. Dr. Peter D. Ward, a UW Professor of Biology and of Earth and Space Sciences, has conducted field research on these taxa throughout most of their range since the 1970s. Last year doctoral candidate Andres Dunstan, a UW reserach partner in Brisbane, Australia, became the first researcher ever to estimate local population size and has previously conducted local fisheries and social surveys regarding these taxa. Together these scientists form a uniquely qualified team to compile sufficient biological and trade information to more fully understand the impact of international trade in these animals needed to build on the Service's initial assessment of the species, in consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)that supports its conclusion that available scientific and commerical information suggesting that all extant species may merit listing in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora.

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