Motivation

Section 7 consultation provides a mechanism through which take can be authorized, as long as doing so will not jeopardize a species existence or result in the destruction or modification of critical habitat (determined in 'JAM' analysis). The JAM analysis depends in part on knowing how much take has already been authorized, but because there is no tracking system for authorized take, analysis of cumulative take authorizations is not possible. This may be particularly important for green sea turtles because they are regularly consulted on.

Approach

One possible approach is to reconstruct the history of authorized take of green sea turtles by going through the Incidental Take Statements of all past formal consultations. This will also require analyzing the permanency of actions and the effects on fitness.