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Game so as to properly incorporate the Refuge on all future 

 charts. Such consultations have taken place, and the 

 California Department of Fish and Game has provided the 

 Service the necessary information. Corrected navigation 

 charts for the areas in question, to be reissued in 1984 and 

 1985, will include information on the California Sea Otter 

 Game Refuge boundaries as well as on the applicable regulations 

 therein. 



Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus ) 



Over-exploitation by commercial whalers in the 19th and 

 early 20th centuries reduced the population size of bowhead 

 whales to extremely low levels throughout its range. Commercial 

 exploitation was prohibited more than 4 years ago, and the 

 species is listed both as "endangered" under the Endangered 

 Species Act and "depleted" under the Marine Mammal Protection 

 Act. 



Although commercial exploitation of the Bering Sea 

 population of bowheads did not begin until the mid-19th 

 century, the species has been hunted for subsistence purposes 

 by Eskimos for centuries. During the mid-1970s, reported 

 increases in the number of bowhead whales landed as well as 

 those struck but lost by Alaskan Eskimos led to increasing 

 concern about the possible adverse impact of unregulated 

 Eskimo hunting on the endangered bowhead population. This 

 concern led to a decision by the International Whaling 

 Commission (IWC) in June 1977 to ban the taking of bowhead 

 whales for subsistence purposes by all its member nations ' 

 people, including Alaskan Eskimos. Subsequently, in December 

 1977 and thereafter, the IWC modified the total ban in 

 recognition of the subsistence and cultural dependence of 

 Alaskan Eskimos on bowheads. Limited quotas were established 

 for subsistence hunting during 1978, 1979, and 1980, and at 

 its July 1980 meeting, the IWC adopted a "block quota" for 

 the years 1981 through 1983 of 45 bowhead whales landed or 

 65 struck, whichever came first, provided that not more than 

 17 whales were landed during any one year. 



In addition to the pressures on bowhead whale populations 

 resulting from continued subsistence hunting, activities 

 related to offshore oil and gas development in waters off 

 Alaska and Canada pose a potential threat to this species ' 

 survival. Recognizing this, the Bureau of Land Management 

 (now the Minerals Management Service) initiated research in the 

 late 1970s on bowheads and other marine mammal species that 

 could be adversely affected by OCS activities. In 1978, the 



