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National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Regional Office

Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Stock Status

The Cook Inlet beluga whale stock declined 47 percent between 1994 (estimated 653 whales) and 1998 (estimated 347 whales). Subsistence harvest of beluga whales at unsustainable levels during this time has been identified as the major cause for this population decline. In response to this significant decline, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a proposed rule on October 19, 1999 to designate the Cook Inlet beluga stock as “depleted” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The depleted designation was finalized and published on May 31, 2000.

By designating the Cook Inlet beluga whale stock as depleted under the MMPA in 2000, NMFS was obligated to develop a Conservation Plan which would delineate reasonable actions, as determined by the best available science, necessary to recover and protect the Cook Inlet beluga whales. NMFS published a draft Conservation Plan in 2005, and after incorporating public comments and updated information, published the final Conservation Plan in October 2008.

Since 1999, NMFS and Alaska Natives have worked cooperatively to develop harvest restrictions which limited the harvest. NMFS and Alaska Natives established harvest levels and allocated harvest through co-management agreements for 2000 – 2003 and 2005 - 2006. In 2004, NMFS published interim harvest regulations, and finalized long-term harvest regulations in 2008 which will permit Alaska Natives to continue subsistence harvests that support their traditional cultural and nutritional needs without preventing or significantly delaying the stock’s recovery. Although subsistence hunting has been regulated since 1999, and only five whales have been harvested between 1999 and 2008, the Cook Inlet beluga whale population has not grown as anticipated.

In March 2006, concerned that the stock has not recovered with the regulated subsistence harvests, NMFS initiated a status review of the Cook Inlet beluga stock. In April 2006, NMFS received its second petition to list the Cook Inlet beluga stock as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The November 2006 status review drew several conclusions about the stock’s tenuous predicament and prompted NMFS on April 20, 2007 to publish a proposed rule to list the Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. NMFS released another status review in April 2008, which upheld the dire conclusions drawn in the 2006 review, and predicted a 39 percent chance that belugas would go extinct within 100 years. On April 22, 2008, NMFS postponed the ESA determination decision until October 2008 to allow for 2008 survey and abundance estimate to be calculated. The 2008 abundance estimate was 375 whales, and when combined with estimates since 1999, when the subsistence harvest was regulated, it documented a 1.5 percent annual decline. On October 22, 2008, NMFS published a final rule listing the Cook Inlet beluga whales as an endangered species.

Stock Status Review

  • Status Review and Extinction Risk Assessment of Cook Inlet Belugas: 2008 supplemental, 2008, 2006, 1999, 1992
  • 73 FR 62919, October 22, 2008. Final determination to list a Distinct Population Segment of the beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, found in Cook Inlet, Alaska, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended.
  • 73 FR 21578, April 22, 2008. NMFS extends the date for the final determination to list the beluga whales located in Cook Inlet, Alaska as endangered. A final determination will be made no later than October 20, 2008.
  • 72 FR 30534, June 1, 2007. Extension of public comment period and notice of public hearings on proposed Endangered Species Act listing of Cook Inlet beluga whales. The deadline for comments on the April 20, 2007 (72 FR 19854) proposed rule is extended from June 19, 2007, to August 3, 2007.
  • 72 FR 19854, April 20, 2007. Proposed endangered status for the Cook Inlet beluga whale. Public comment period through June 19, 2007.
  • 71 FR 25150, April 28, 2006. Notice of reopening of time period for submitting information for the status review of Cook Inlet Beluga Whales.
  • Notification to public of the extension of the comment period on the status review, April 21, 2006
  • Trustees for Alaska petition to list the Cook Inlet beluga whales as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, April 20, 2006.
  • 71 FR 14836, March 24, 2006. Notice of request for information for NMFS' status review of the Cook Inlet beluga whale to determine if this group of beluga whales should be listed as an endangered or threatened species.

Depleted, Not Endangered


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