US fisheries managers on Monday proposed lifting protections for most humpback whales around the globe, including in US waters, based on evidence the mammals have made a strong comeback since commercial whaling drove them to the brink of extinction.
The humpback whale is listed as endangered throughout its range. Under a plan that opened for public comment on Monday, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposes to classify most of the world’s humpback populations into 14 groups with varying forms of protections under US federal law.
The stripping of safeguards from the Endangered Species Act means that US ships and commercial fishermen in international waters would no longer be bound by law to check levels of underwater noise that could constitute harassment of the whales, while vessel strikes that kill or injure the humpbacks might not be closely tracked.
Photo: AFP
The proposed reclassification would see most humpback whales that enter US waters in states such as Hawaii and California removed from the federal endangered and threatened species lists, along with eight other populations in Mexico, Australia and other countries, NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Protected Resources director Donna Wieting said.
The whales would remain endangered — under the strictest protections — in the Arabian Sea and off the Cape Verde Islands in northwest Africa, per the proposal.
They would be upgraded to threatened in Central American waters and the western North Pacific off Japan, according to the proposal.
US-funded projects in other countries must abide by endangered species protections, as must US commercial fishermen operating in international waters.
The sweeping changes proposed for humpbacks come as US government scientists estimate their current numbers in the tens of thousands worldwide, compared with fewer than several thousand when they were listed as endangered in 1970.
Earthjustice attorney David Henkin said the environmental law firm welcomed news that humpback numbers were climbing, but said those gains came from the protections federal fisheries managers were now proposing to lift.
He said conservationists were reviewing the proposal to learn if it was anchored by scientific data and not politically driven.
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