MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
statement on the proposed action. The plan sets forth 
a comprehensive long-term system of management 
measures, including regulations to protect marine 
resources and habitat located on and around Stell- 
wagen Bank. The Commission provided comments to 
the Division on 9 April 1991 recommending that 
efforts proceed to designate the area and implement an 
associated sanctuary management program. 
As noted above, Congress passed amendments to 
the sanctuary program’s authorizing legislation, which 
were signed into law by the President on 4 November 
1992. Among other points, the amendments include 
provisions to designate Stellwagen Bank and adjacent 
waters as a national marine sanctuary. The designated 
Sanctuary area, approximately 35 nautical miles long 
and 25 nautical miles wide, includes the waters and 
submerged lands on the eastern side of Massachusetts 
Bay from Cape Cod to Cape Ann but excludes waters 
within three miles of shore. The Act also includes a 
provision to prohibit sand and gravel mining within 
the sanctuary but left other management provisions to 
be developed by Sanctuaries and Reserves Division. 
As of the end of 1992, the Division was in the 
process of completing revisions to its final environ- 
mental impact statement and management plan for the 
sanctuary in response to the Congressional action. 
Final rules to implement the sanctuary designation are 
expected to be published in March 1993 and to 
become effective in June. To administer the new 
sanctuary, the Division expects, among other things, 
to constitute an advisory committee and establish the 
sanctuary headquarters in Plymouth, Massachusetts. 
Gray Whale 
(Eschrichtius robustus) 
The gray whale is the sole member of the family 
Eschrichtiidae. It occurs only in the North Pacific 
Ocean and breeds, feeds, and migrates primarily in 
coastal waters. There are two recognized populations 
of gray whales — the western North Pacific (Korean) 
stock and the eastern North Pacific (California) stock. 
Each year, virtually the entire eastern North Pacific 
population migrates to and from its major summer 
feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and 
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winter breeding grounds in the nearshore waters, 
bays, and lagoons of Baja California, Mexico, and to 
some extent the Gulf of California. 
Following discovery of the breeding lagoons, the 
population was severely depleted by commercial 
whaling in the mid-1800s. A second period of com- 
mercial whaling using factory ships further depleted 
the stock in the early 1900s. By 1946, when the 
International Convention for the Regulation of Whal- 
ing provided the eastern North Pacific gray whale 
population protection from commercial whaling, it 
was believed to number no more than a few thousand 
individuals. In 1970 additional protection was provid- 
ed when the species was listed as endangered under 
the 1969 Endangered Species Conservation Act 
predecessor to the Endangered Species Act of 1973. 
Since commercial whaling was prohibited, the 
eastern North Pacific population has grown at the 
most rapid known rate of any whale stock seriously 
depleted by commercial whaling. The population is 
now estimated to number nearly 24,000 whales and 
appears to be continuing to increase. In response to 
its continuing recovery, in 1978 the International 
Whaling Commission reclassified the eastern North 
Pacific gray whale stock from a protected to a sus- 
tained management stock. At its 1991 meeting the 
IWC approved an annual quota of 169 whales for 
1992, 1993, and 1994, to be taken from this popula- 
tion by Russia on behalf of its Siberian Natives. 
Although the population now appears to be near 
pre-exploitation levels, its nearshore distribution and 
migratory routes expose it to many threats from 
habitat degradation and direct physical harm from 
human activities. Commercial fishing, offshore oil 
and gas activities, commercial shipping, whale-watch- 
ing, recreational boating, and military activity pose 
threats to individual whales, and to feeding, breeding, 
and migratory areas essential to their survival. 
Comprehensive Assessment by the 
International Whaling Commission’s 
Scientific Committee 
As noted in previous annual reports, the Interna- 
tional Whaling Commission’s Scientific Committee 
