Concerning data absent from LEMIS wildlife trade records

Abstract

International wildlife trade is implicitly complex and esoteric. Oftentimes, the data are doubly so, as crucial contextual information is not readily apparent. Working effectively with these data often requires a robust comprehension of international and domestic trade processes as well as their intersections with national policy administration, conservation, and ecological processes. Weissgold (2024) calls attention to important limitations affecting the utility of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS) wildlife trade data. However, to prevent further misunderstanding of the LEMIS system, it is necessary to address a sentiment expressed by Weissgold regarding the apparent incompleteness of LEMIS records. The goal of this response is to help researchers working with LEMIS data understand that the LEMIS Declaration subsystem documents a specific subset of international wildlife trade. This understanding is vital for accurate analyses.

As Weissgold states, LEMIS wildlife trade data are typically extracted from the LEMIS Declaration subsystem, which omits many confirmed occurrences of illegal wildlife trade interdiction. Wildlife trade activity must qualify as an import or an export before it is eligible to become a LEMIS wildlife trade database record. LEMIS wildlife trade data are records of wildlife trade events processed by USFWS wildlife inspectors, whose jurisdiction is defined by inspection, search, and seizure authority at international land, sea, and air borders as well as at functional equivalents of the border (USFWS, 2008a). Satisfaction of this “border nexus” condition underpins the USFWS Office of Law Enforcement's (OLE) review of trade declarations for internationally traded wildlife (USFWS, 2008b). Domestic instances of illegal wildlife trade handled by USFWS OLE special agents, whether the wildlife was ultimately intended for export or not, are documented elsewhere within LEMIS and must be specifically requested from the Investigations, Violations, or other LEMIS subsystems (USDOI, 2020). The absence of these records from the LEMIS Declaration subsystem data is not a result of procedural or data entry errors.

LEMIS data users should also note that the LEMIS Declaration subsystem is not a complete record of lawful U.S. international wildlife trade and information gaps abound. If a trade event satisfies any of a series of conditions prescribed by USFWS and the wildlife is not protected by key U.S. legislation such as the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Act, the Lacey Act, etc., then the import (or export) may be exempt from declaration to the USFWS and thus not recorded in LEMIS (Table 1) (U.S.C Title 50 §, 14.62; U.S.C Title 50 §, 14.64). In a dataset as large as LEMIS, records skewed towards or against the recording of certain taxa or types of trade can lead to misrepresentations of the economic, social, and ecological impacts of trade. These resultant data gaps should be acknowledged and explored for their conservation and policy implications as they are likely to contribute towards mischaracterizations in LEMIS data analyses.

TABLE 1. exemptions to USFWS wildlife declaration requirements.

Exemption type	Summary	Source
Import declaration exemptions	Shellfish and nonliving fishery products imported for human or animal consumption	U.S.C Title 50 § 14.62(a) Exceptions to import declaration requirements.
	Fish taken for recreation purposes in Canada or Mexico	U.S.C Title 50 § 14.62(b)(1) Exceptions to import declaration requirements.
	Wildlife products or manufactured articles not intended for commercial use and used as clothing or contained in accompanying personal baggage	U.S.C Title 50 § 14.62(b)(2) Exceptions to import declaration requirements.
	Wildlife products or manufactured articles not intended for commercial use, constituting a household move to a residence in the United States.	U.S.C Title 50 § 14.62(b)(3) Exceptions to import declaration requirements.
Export declaration exemptions	Shellfish and nonliving fishery products exported for human or animal consumption	U.S.C Title 50 § 14.64(a) Exceptions to export declaration requirements.
	Live aquatic invertebrates of Class Pelecypoda for the purposes of propagation or research related to propagation	U.S.C Title 50 § 14.64(a) Exceptions to export declaration requirements.
	Shellfish and nonliving fishery products exported for recreational purposes	U.S.C Title 50 § 14.64(a) Exceptions to export declaration requirements.
	Wildlife not intended for commercial use where the value is less than $250	U.S.C Title 50 § 14.64(b)(1) Exceptions to export declaration requirements.
	Wildlife products, including game trophies, used as clothing, contained in accompanying personal baggage, or constituting a household move from the United States.	U.S.C Title 50 § 14.64(b)(2) Exceptions to export declaration requirements.
	Live farm-raised fish and farm-raised fish eggs	U.S.C Title 50 § 14.64(c) Exceptions to export declaration requirements.
	Green sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus spp.) taken from U.S. waters and then exported for human consumption	USFWS, pers. comm. to O. Goodman; April 4 2024

• Abbreviation: USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.