Comment on FR Doc # E7-25268

RIN 0648-XE13 Pacific Leatherback Critical Habitat I strongly support the designation of critical habitat for the Pacific leatherback off the U.S. West Coast. Scientific studies show that Pacific leatherbacks nesting in Indonesia rely on the waters off California and Oregon as a vital feeding area. The seasonal abundance of jellyfish in this area is so critical to Pacific leatherbacks that they travel thousands of miles across the Pacific to feed. Both the perilously low population level of Pacific leatherback and the critical importance of its West Coast foraging grounds make it imperative that the National Marine Fisheries Service designate this area as critical habitat and protect it to the full extent of the law. One of the greatest threats to Pacific leatherbacks is death by entanglement in fishing gear; longlines and gillnets in particular pose grave threats to feeding and migrating leatherbacks. The Service recognized this when it established the Pacific Leatherback Conservation Area and closed it to harmful fishing gear while leatherbacks are feeding in the area. I urge you to grant formal, permanent protection under the Endangered Species Act to the leatherback's critical feeding area and the adjacent areas it uses to access those feeding grounds. Designating this area as critical habitat will provide much-needed protection for leatherbacks and help to ensure that these individuals can return to their nesting grounds well fed and ready to perpetuate the species. Thank you.