The bowhead and right whales have not recovered from the "Golden Age" of 

 whaling and are considered rare in the Western North Atlantic (Katona et al. 

 1977). Though whaling no longer exists in U.S. waters, Canadians continued to 

 take finback, sei, and minke whales until 1972, when all Canadian stations 

 were closed. Hunting of humpback, blue, fin, and pilot whales has had a 

 profound effect on cetacean populations in Maine. Several of the European 

 countries, such as Iceland, Greenland, and Norway, still hunt whales in the 

 North Atlantic on a non-commercial basis. Japan and Russia account for 80% of 

 the present day catch of both commercial and noncommercial whaling (Craig 

 1977). 



Today whales are used for such products as margarine, lipstick, pet food, 

 tennis racket strings, and automobile wax. Russia diligently pursues the 

 sperm whale for its oil. Japan claims whales are an important source of 

 protein for it's island population, although over 50% of their take is sperm 

 whales, which are considered inedible (Hill 1975). Japan also imports whale 

 meat from other International Whaling Commission (IWC) countries. 



Some hunting of harbor porpoises or other small dolphins may still occur 

 sporadically along the eastern Maine coast or adjoining Canadian waters, 

 although this was expressly forbidden by the Marine Mammals Protection Act 

 passed in 1972. Harbor porpoises are still hunted for subsistence in the 

 North Atlantic by Iceland, Greenland, and Norway. 



Gray and harbor seals are known to have been hunted by the Indians in New 

 England but the extent of this is not fully known. Both Maine and 

 Massachusetts had bounties on seals (Maine from 1891 to 1905 and from 1937 to 

 1947, while Massachusetts' bounties were in effect from 1888 to 1908 and from 

 1919 to 1962; Gilbert et al. 1978) and Canada has had a bounty on gray seals 

 since 1976 and a bounty on harbor seals in all but a few years since 1938. It 

 is believed that although seals were sometimes utilized for their meat and 

 hides most seals were killed to reduce competition for fish. Today there is 

 no direct harvesting of seals in the characterization area but Canadian stocks 

 of gray seals are culled to control local populations (Mansfield and Beck 

 1977). In addition, seals are sometimes shot by fishermen, who maintain that 

 the seals pirate their fish and foul their nets. 



Fossil records and fragmentary bone remains indicate that the walrus was known 

 to have been an occasional visitor to Maine's coastal waters. It is believed 

 that the walrus was once hunted by the Indians in Maine. Figures on its 

 historic population and distribution are uncertain and difficult to establish. 



MANAGEMENT 



Jurisdiction over the conservation, management, and importation of all marine 

 mammals rests with the Federal Government under the Marine Mammal Protection 

 Act of 1972. This Act sets forth regulations for the taking of marine mammals 

 subject to U.S. jurisdiction and provides enforcement procedures. All New 

 England species are managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 (Department of Commerce). States are free to promulgate regulations regarding 

 management of local stocks providing they satisfy the intent of the Act. In 

 addition, the Act calls for initiation of a cooperative international program. 

 Concurrently, the Act established the Marine Mammal Commission as a major 

 authority responsible for the development of research activities and resource 



13-27 



10-80 



