Although it was not possible for the Service to respond 

 by year's end to the Commission's 23 December letter, the new 

 Director of the Service informally advised the Commission 

 that the Service would designate recovery teams and prepare 

 recovery plans for both humpback whales and right whales 

 during 1987. The Commission looks forward to working with 

 the Service in its efforts to further identify and initiate 

 appropriate actions to ensure the protection and conservation 

 of humpback whales in U.S. waters. 



Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) 



It is thought that at least five or six separate bowhead 

 whale populations once existed. Over-exploitation by 

 commercial whalers between 1600 and 1900 reduced these 

 populations to extremely low levels throughout the species' 

 range. The largest surviving population is the Bering Sea 

 population, which occurs in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering 

 Seas off Alaska and Canada. This population is of great 

 importance to Alaska Eskimos, who continue to hunt bowhead 

 whales for subsistence and cultural purposes. 



Consideration by the International Whaling Commission 



As described in the Marine Mammal Commission's previous 

 Annual Reports, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) 

 reviews information on the status of the Bering Sea stock of 

 bowhead whales and establishes quotas on the aboriginal/ 

 subsistence take of whales from this as well as other whale 

 stocks. In 1977, the IWC adopted a total ban on the take of 

 bowhead whales by Alaska Eskimos. Later that same year, it 

 modified its ban in recognition of Eskimo subsistence and 

 cultural needs. Since 1977, a series of limited quotas have 

 been adopted by the IWC to meet the needs of Alaska Eskimos 

 while allowing the bowhead whale stock to increase towards 

 its maximum sustainable yield level. In 1983, the IWC 

 adopted a two-year block quota of 43 strikes for the 1984 and 

 1985 bowhead whaling seasons with a stipulation that no more 

 than 27 strikes be made in either year. As noted in Chapter 

 IV of this Report, the IWC again considered aboriginal/ 

 subsistence whaling quotas for bowhead whales during its 1985 

 meeting. 



During the 1985 meeting, the IWC was advised by its 

 Scientific Committee that, based on improved information 

 concerning the size of the stock, the best estimate of the 

 size of the Bering Sea stock of bowhead whales had been 

 revised upward to 4,417 animals (range 2,613 to 6,221). No 

 new information, however, was available on the natural 

 mortality rate or annual net recruitment rate for the 

 population, and the Scientific Committee therefore 



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