MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1995 



concerning the status and trends of beluga whales in 

 Alaska. 



Since its creation in 1988, the Alaska Beluga 

 Whale Committee has been collecting harvest data 

 from Native hunters. Information presented at the 

 April 1995 workshop indicated that the total average 

 annual harvest for the years 1987 to 1994 from all 

 beluga whale stocks in Alaska was 274 whales. The 

 Beaufort Sea stock, which is shared with Canada, has 

 also been subject to an annual take by Canadian 

 Natives. The average annual Canadian harvest from 

 this stock for this period was 118 whales. As noted 

 earlier, there are believed to be five relatively discrete 

 stocks of beluga whales in Alaska. The annual take 

 from all but the Cook Inlet stock is believed to be less 

 than two percent of the estimated stock size. 



During 1995 the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee, 

 working with the North Slope Borough and with 

 support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration, completed a data and sample collect- 

 ing manual for use by Native hunters. The 22-page 

 manual includes instructions on how different biologi- 

 cal samples should be collected and handled, as well 

 as a discussion of what biologists can learn from the 

 samples. 



Beluga Whale Stock Assessments 



Section 1 17 of the 1994 amendments to the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act requires that the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service prepare stock assessments for each stock of 

 marine mammal that occurs in waters under U.S. 

 jurisdiction. As discussed in Chapter IV, each stock 

 assessment report is to estimate the minimum size and 

 maximum productivity rate of the stock, calculate a 

 potential biological removal level (not including 

 natural mortality) that can be safely taken without 

 causing the population to fall below its optimum 

 sustainable population level, and assess the level of 

 incidental take by commercial fisheries. In cases 

 where the estimated level of mortality and serious 

 injury exceeds the estimated potential biological 

 removal level, the stock is to be classified as a "stra- 

 tegic" stock. 



Draft stock assessment reports for species under 

 the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service were prepared and distributed for review on 

 9 August 1994. With respect to beluga whales, the 

 Service identified five presumed discrete stocks in 

 Alaska: the Beaufort Sea stock (shared with Canada), 

 the eastern Chukchi Sea stock, the Norton 

 Sound/Yukon Delta stock, the Bristol Bay stock, and 

 the Cook Inlet stock. 



The Beaufort Sea stock was estimated at 21,000 

 animals and stable. Data were insufficient to estimate 

 the maximum net productivity rate for this as well as 

 the other four beluga whale stocks. Therefore, a 4 

 percent default rate applicable to cetaceans generally 

 was used in all cases to calculate the potential biologi- 

 cal removal level. The potential biological removal 

 level for the Beaufort Sea stock was calculated at 420 

 whales a year. There was no reported incidental take 

 in commercial fisheries, and the subsistence take by 

 Alaska Natives was estimated at fewer than three 

 whales a year. 



The Bristol Bay stock was also considered to be 

 stable with an estimated minimum population level of 

 1 ,800 animals. The potential biological removal level 

 was calculated to be 36 whales per year, and the 

 annual subsistence take was estimated to be 8 whales. 



The draft assessments classified the three remaining 

 beluga whale stocks as strategic stocks. These are the 

 eastern Chukchi Sea stock, with a minimum popula- 

 tion estimate of 2,500 animals, a potential biological 

 removal level of 50 whales, and an annual subsistence 

 take of 92 whales; the Norton Sound/Yukon Delta 

 stock with a minimum population estimate of 4,000 

 animals, a potential biological removal level of 51, 

 and an annual subsistence take of 168; and the Cook 

 Inlet stock with a minimum population estimate of 332 

 whales, a potential biological removal level of 6.6, 

 and an annual subsistence take of 13 whales. 



As discussed in the previous annual report, the 

 Marine Mammal Commission, in consultation with its 

 Committee of Scientific Advisors, provided comments 

 on the draft assessments to the Service on 1 December 

 1994. In its comments, the Commission noted that 

 because the Beaufort Sea stock is shared with Canada, 

 the stock assessment should include information on 



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