MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



tion from the List of Endangered and Threatened 

 Wildlife, while retaining the western North Pacific 

 population on the list as endangered. The draft notice 

 cited information indicating that the eastern population 

 is equal to or greater than its historical stock size in 

 1846, and the population has been increasing at a rate 

 of 3.2 percent per year since the early 1960s. It also 

 noted that the western North Pacific population is 

 geographically isolated from the eastern population 

 and shows no signs of recovery. 



On 21 August 1991, the Commission advised the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service that it agreed that 

 the eastern North Pacific gray whale population had 

 recovered to near its estimated historic size. It noted, 

 however, that the population occupies coastal waters 

 of four nations — the Soviet Union, Canada, the 

 United States, and Mexico — and that ongoing and 

 foreseeable human development in all four countries 

 must be considered to accurately assess the possible 

 threats to the population and habitats critical to its 

 survival. In this regard, the Commission pointed out 

 that, if the eastern North Pacific gray whale popula- 

 tion were removed from the endangered list, major 

 Federal actions, such as oil and gas resource develop- 

 ment and coastal development, that could adversely 

 affect gray whales and their habitats would proceed 

 without benefit of Endangered Species Act section 7 

 consultations, and that equivalent habitat protection 

 could not be achieved under the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act. 



The Commission therefore recommended that the 

 Service: (1) identify and assess present and foresee- 

 able threats to the principal breeding lagoons, feeding 

 grounds, and other areas of special biological impor- 

 tance to the species; (2) explain why such threats are 

 no longer considered justification for a threatened 

 designation, as the Service concluded in 1984; (3) 

 review all Biological Opinions issued pursuant to 

 section 7 of the Endangered Species Act to determine 

 how removal from the list or down-listing gray whales 

 to threatened status might affect implementation of 

 identified reasonable and prudent alternatives or other 

 conservation measures described therein; and (4) 

 describe the specific actions that the Service would 

 take to ensure that human activities do not damage or 

 degrade habitat essential to the population. 



On 22 November 1991, the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service published a proposed rule in the 

 Federal Register to remove the eastern North Pacific 

 (California) population of gray whales from the List 

 of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. In its notice, 

 the Service noted that the eastern North Pacific gray 

 whale population has recovered to near or above its 

 estimated pre-exploitation population size, or approxi- 

 mately 88 percent of its carrying capacity, and is 

 probably still increasing. In addition, the Service 

 noted that a number of studies since 1984 suggest 

 that, while cumulative impacts from oil and gas 

 activities may affect the eastern North Pacific gray 

 whale population, they are not likely to jeopardize the 

 population's continued existence. It concluded that 

 the population had recovered to near its estimated 

 original population size and was neither in danger of 

 extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its 

 range, nor likely to become endangered again within 

 the foreseeable future. 



The proposed rule further noted that section 4(g) 

 of the Endangered Species Act requires that, whenev- 

 er a species has recovered to a point where protective 

 measures provided under the Act are no longer 

 necessary, the Secretary must implement a system to 

 monitor the status of that species for five years. The 

 proposed rule stated that, as part of its gray whale 

 monitoring program, the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service would create a panel of gray whale experts to 

 monitor activities potentially affecting gray whales, 

 serve as a quick-response advisory team in the event 

 of a catastrophic event affecting gray whales, recom- 

 mend actions to mitigate any unforeseen catastrophic 

 events, including the reimposition of emergency 

 protective measures, and, within six months following 

 the conclusion of the first five-year monitoring pro- 

 gram, conduct a comprehensive status review to 

 determine whether the monitoring program should be 

 continued and/or the gray whale population should be 

 relisted under the Endangered Species Act. 



On 25 November 1991, the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service replied to the Commission's 21 

 August 1991 comments on the draft Federal Register 

 notice. The Service reaffirmed its view that, while 

 individual and cumulative impacts from human activi- 

 ties throughout the range of the eastern North Pacific 

 gray whale population may have the potential to ad- 



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