North Pacific Right Whales
North Pacific Right Whale Management in Alaska
Recovery Plan
North Pacific right whale in the Bering Sea. Photo: Bob Pitman, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
- Draft Recovery Plan for the North Pacific Right Whale, January 2013 NEW!
- 78 FR 4835, January 23, 2013. Notice of availability for public review of the Draft Recovery Plan for the North Pacific Right Whale. Comment period through March 11, 2013.
- 77 FR 22760, April 17, 2012. Notice of intent to update a recovery plan for the blue whale and prepare a recovery plan for the North Pacific right whale. Comments and information must be received by May 17, 2012.
Critical Habitat
- Shapefiles of critical habitat (zip file of 7 files)
- 73 FR 19000, April 8, 2008. Final rule to designate critical habitat for the North Pacific right whale. Effective May 8, 2008.
- 72 FR 61089, October 29, 2007. Proposed rule to list the North Pacific right whale as endangered and designate critical habitat for this species in the GOA and BSAI. Comment period through December 28, 2007 and request for public hearings must be made in writing by December 13, 2007.
- 71 FR 38277, July 6, 2006. Final rule to revise the current critical habitat for the northern right whale. Effective August 7, 2006.
- News Release: June 30, 2006
- Habitat Requirements and Extinction Risks of Eastern North Pacific Right Whales, April 2006
- 71 FR 6999, February 10, 2006. Proposed rule to revise current critical habitat for the northern right whale. Public hearing scheduled and comment period extended through March 9, 2006.
- 70 FR 66332, November 2, 2005. NOAA Fisheries proposes critical habitat areas for endangered northern right whales
- Judge Alsup's order to designate Critical Habitat for the northern right whale, June 2005
- Order Granting Summary Judgment in Favor of Center for Biological Diversity, June 2005
- Center for Biological Diversity Notice of Intent to Sue for failing to designate critical habitat, May 2004. 67 FR 7660, February 20, 2002: Response to petition to revise critical habitat
- 70 FR 60285, October 17, 2005. Notice of intent to prepare an EIS to analyze the environmental impacts on endangered northern right whales. Comment period through January 31, 2006.
Oil Lease Sales
- 73 FR 19095, April 8, 2008. Notice of Minerals Management Services' initial information-gathering steps in a process that incorporates planning and analysis for proposed OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sale 214 in the program area of the North Aleutian Basin Planning Area offshore the State of Alaska. The program area is that subarea of the larger North Aleutian Basin Planning Area identified in the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program, 2007 to 2012, that may be offered in the proposed Sale 214. Comment period through July 7, 2008.
Stock Status
- 77 FR 16538, March 21, 2012. Notice of a 5-year review of North Atlantic right whale and North Pacific right whale under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. NMFS is requesting submission of any such information on these whales that has become available since the last status review in 2006. NMFS must receive information no later than April 20, 2012.
- 73 FR 12024, March 6, 2008. Final rule to list the currently endangered northern right whale (Eubalaena spp.) as two separate, endangered species, North Pacific right whale (E. japonica) and North Atlantic right whale (E. glacialis). Effective April 7, 2008.
- 72 FR 61089, October 29, 2007. Proposed rule to list the North Pacific right whale as endangered and designate critical habitat for this species in the GOA and BSAI. Comment period through December 28, 2007 and request for public hearings must be made in writing by December 13, 2007.
- 72 FR 29973, May 30, 2007. Notice of a 90-day finding regarding a petition to list the global populations of right whales as a single species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. After review, NMFS finds the petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.
- 71 FR 77694, December 27, 2006. Proposed rule to list the North Pacific right whale as an endangered species. Comment period through February 26, 2007.
- Center for Biological Diversity: Lawsuit to protect the North Pacific right whale under the ESA, December 2006; Dismissed - Case No. C-06-7786-BZ
- 71 FR 4344, January 26, 2006. Notice of a 90-day finding regarding a petition to list the North Pacific right whale as an endangered species.
- Center for Biological Diversity: Petition to list the North Pacific right whale under the ESA, August 2005
- 70 FR 1830, January 11, 2005. Removal of technical revisions made in April 2003 to the Northern Right Whale listing under the ESA.
- 68 FR 17560, April 10, 2003. Revision to right whale nomenclature and taxonomy.
- Stock Assessment Reports
Research
- Acoustic detection and satellite-tracking leads to discovery of rare concentration of endangered North Pacific right whales, Biology Letters, February 2006
- National Marine Mammal Laboratory
- Disappearing Right Whales and the Secrets of Soviet Whaling, 2006
- Historic and current habitat use by North Pacific right whales Eubalaena japonica in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, 2005
- North Pacific Right Whale Satellite Tagging Project, 2004
- Detecting Right Whales Using Passive Acoustics, 2000
