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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 162 / Wednesday, August 25, 2021 / Proposed Rules encourages cooperation with the States and other countries and calls for recovery actions to be carried out for listed species. The protection required by Federal agencies and the prohibitions against certain activities are discussed, in part, below. Section 7a of the Act requires Federal agencies to evaluate their actions with respect to any species that is proposed or listed as an endangered or threatened species and with respect to its critical habitat, if any is designated. Regulations implementing this interagency cooperation provision of the Act are codified at 50 CFR part 402. Section 7a4 of the Act requires Federal agencies to confer with the Service on any action that is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a species proposed for listing or result in destruction or adverse modification of proposed critical habitat. If a species is listed subsequently, section 7a2 of the Act requires Federal agencies to ensure that activities they authorize, fund, or carry out are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the species or destroy or adversely modify its critical habitat. If a Federal action may affect a listed species or its critical habitat, the responsible Federal agency must enter into consultation with the Service.
An action that is subject to the consultation provisions of section 7a2 is defined in our implementing regulations at 50 CFR 402.02 as all activities or programs of any kind authorized, funded, or carried out, in whole or in part, by Federal agencies in the United States or upon the high seas. With respect to this species, there are no actions known to require consultation under section 7a2 of the Act. Given the regulatory definition of action, which clarifies that it applies to activities or programs in the United States or upon the high seas, the Amur sturgeon is unlikely to be the subject of section 7 consultations, because the entire life cycle of the species occurs in freshwater and nearshore marine areas outside of the United States unlikely to be affected by U.S. Federal actions.
Additionally, no critical habitat will be designated for this species because, under 50 CFR 424.12g, we will not designate critical habitat within foreign countries or in other areas outside of the jurisdiction of the United States.
Section 8a of the Act 16 U.S.C.
1537a authorizes the provision of limited financial assistance for the development and management of programs that the Secretary of the Interior determines to be necessary or useful for the conservation of endangered or threatened species in foreign countries. Sections 8b and 8c
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of the Act 16 U.S.C. 1537b and c authorize the Secretary to encourage conservation programs for foreign listed species, and to provide assistance for such programs, in the form of personnel and the training of personnel.
The Act and its implementing regulations set forth a series of general prohibitions and exceptions that apply to all endangered wildlife. The prohibitions of section 9a1 of the Act, codified at 50 CFR 17.21, make it illegal for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to import; export;
deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship in interstate or foreign commerce, by any means whatsoever and in the course of commercial activity; or sell or offer for sale in interstate or foreign commerce any species listed as an endangered species. In addition, it is unlawful to take which includes harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect; or to attempt any of these endangered wildlife within the United States or on the high seas. It is also illegal to possess, sell, deliver, carry, transport, or ship, by any means whatsoever any such wildlife that has been taken illegally. Certain exceptions apply to employees of the Service, NMFS, other Federal land management agencies, and State conservation agencies. We may issue permits to carry out otherwise prohibited activities involving endangered wildlife under certain circumstances. Regulations governing permits for endangered wildlife are codified at 50 CFR 17.22, and general Service permitting regulations are codified at 50 CFR part 13. With regard to endangered wildlife, a permit may be issued for the following purposes: For scientific purposes, to enhance the propagation or survival of the species, and for incidental take in connection with otherwise lawful activities. The Service may also register persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States through its captive-bredwildlife CBW program if certain established requirements are met under the CBW regulations 50 CFR 17.21g.
Through a CBW registration, the Service may allow a registrant to conduct certain otherwise prohibited activities as part of conservation breeding activities that enhance the propagation or survival of the affected species: Take;
export or re-import; deliver, receive, carry, transport or ship in interstate or foreign commerce, in the course of a commercial activity; or sell or offer for sale in interstate or foreign commerce. A
CBW registration may authorize interstate purchase and sale only between entities that both hold a registration for the taxon concerned.

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The CBW program is available for species having a natural geographic distribution not including any part of the United States and other species that the Director has determined to be eligible by regulation. The individual specimens must have been born in captivity in the United States. There are also certain statutory exemptions from the prohibitions, found in sections 9
and 10 of the Act. For example, a limited exemption from the prohibitions on import and export is available under section 9b1 for a specimen of fish or wildlife which was held in captivity or in a controlled environment on the date the species is listed under the Act, provided that such holding and any subsequent holding or use of the fish or wildlife was not in the course of a commercial activity.
It is our policy, as published in the Federal Register on July 1, 1994 59 FR
34272, to identify to the maximum extent practicable at the time a species is listed, those activities that would or would not constitute a violation of section 9 of the Act. The intent of this policy is to increase public awareness of the effect of a proposed listing on proposed and ongoing activities within the range of the species proposed for listing. Based on the best available information, the following actions are unlikely to result in a violation of section 9, if these activities are carried out in accordance with existing regulations and permit requirements;
this list is not comprehensive:
1 Take of the Amur sturgeon in its native range in China and Russia; and 2 Trade in the Amur sturgeon and its products that is both outside the United States and conducted by persons not subject to U.S. jurisdiction although this activity would still be subject to CITES requirements.
Based on the best available information, the following activities may potentially result in a violation of section 9 of the Act if they are not authorized in accordance with applicable law; this list is not comprehensive:
1 Import into the United States of the Amur sturgeon and its products, including fish originating from the wild or captive-bred, without obtaining permits required under Section 10 of the Act and without following applicable CITES requirements at 50 CFR part 23.
2 Export of the Amur sturgeon and its products, whether originating from the wild or captive-bred, from the United States without obtaining permits required under Section 10 of the Act and without following applicable CITES
requirements at 50 CFR part 23.

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