Fisheries Service prepare recovery plans for humpback whales, 

 right whales, and other endangered cetacean species that occur in 

 U.S. waters. In response to these recommendations, the Service, 

 in July 1987, constituted a Humpback Whale Recovery Team to 

 assist in preparing a Recovery Plan. 



The Recovery Team prepared a draft Humpback Whale Recovery 

 Plan and, on 16 October 1989, the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service made it available for agency and public review. The 

 Commission, in consultation with its Committee of Scientific 

 Advisors, reviewed the draft plan and provided comments to the 

 Service by letter of 30 November 1989. In its letter, the 

 Commission noted that the draft plan provided a very thorough and 

 useful synthesis of available information on the biology and 

 status of humpback whales worldwide, but that it did not identify 

 needed research and management tasks in sufficient detail to 

 effectively guide development of actual recovery programs. 

 Further, the Commission noted that problems were sufficiently 

 different in different regions to merit development of 

 independent recovery programs for populations in the western 

 North Atlantic, the eastern North Pacific, and the central North 

 Pacific Oceans. The Commission recommended that the Recovery 

 Plan outline and narrative be restructured and expanded to 

 provide a clearer indication of the specific research and 

 management actions necessary to rebuild each of the separate 

 populations in U.S. waters. It also recommended that: the 

 revision of the draft Recovery Plan be completed and distributed 

 for further comment by 15 February 1990; a series of regional 

 meetings with representatives of relevant state and Federal 

 agencies be held by June or July 1990 to discuss and agree on 

 priority research and management tasks and the agencies with lead 

 responsibility for those tasks; detailed implementation plans 

 tailored to each of the three populations in U.S. waters be 

 drafted by October 1990; and the implementation plans be used as 

 the basis for agreement on precisely what needs to be done and 

 which agencies or organizations will be responsible for doing it. 



Interactions between Humpback Whales and Vessel Traffic 



A matter of general concern regarding humpback whales and 

 certain other endangered whales in U.S. waters (e.g., right and 

 gray whales) is disturbance by whale-watching boats and other 

 vessels. As noted in previous Annual Reports, the problem has 

 been a matter of particular concern in Hawaiian waters and in 

 waters off southeast Alaska, New England, and California. 



Hawaii — The shallow, coastal waters of the main Hawaiian 

 Islands, particularly Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Kahoolawe, appear 

 to be the principal calving/breeding grounds for the northeast 

 Pacific population of humpback whales. To minimize disturbance 

 from whale watching and other activities, the National Marine 



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