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Alaska’s Beluga Whales Gain Endangered Species Protection

Posted on: Monday, 20 October 2008, 09:35 CDT

The federal government listed Alaska’s beluga whales as endangered on Friday, after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) determined that belugas in Cook Inlet are at risk of extinction and deserving of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Whales in the Cook Inlet, the channel that flows from Anchorage to the Gulf of Alaska, are among five beluga populations in Alaska waters.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called the move "premature", and pressed for more time to make beluga population assessments.  Environmentalists praised the decision, but criticized its delay.

"Hopefully the State of Alaska will now work toward protecting the beluga rather than, as with the polar bear, denying the science and suing to overturn the listing," said Brendan Cummings, director of oceans program for the Center for Biological Diversity.

The depleted population of beluga whales that swim off the coast of Alaska's largest city fell to a low of 278 in 2005, down from 653 in 1994.  Officials say the whales have not rebounded from a period of over-harvesting by the area’s Native hunters, a practice that has largely ceased since 1999.

"In spite of protections already in place, Cook Inlet beluga whales are not recovering," said James Balsinger, NOAA’s Fisheries Service acting assistant administrator, in a statement.

Conservation groups said they had filed an initial petition to list the population as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in March 1999.

"The science was clear — and it has been for a very long time," said Craig Matkin, a marine mammal scientist at the North Gulf Oceanic Society .

"The population is critically endangered,” he told Reuters.

By request of Gov. Palin’s administration, NOAA had delayed its initial listing decision, originally set for April of this year, so that it could conduct an additional population survey during the summer.

"The State of Alaska has had serious concerns about the low population of belugas in Cook Inlet for many years," said Palin in a statement, following the NOAA decision.     

"However, we believe that this endangered listing is premature."

Denby Lloyd, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the agency had urged NOAA to postpone the listing "for a few years to get more population counts."

"Of course, whenever you have a population of marine mammals that is this low, it is a cause for serious concern," Lloyd told Reuters.
"We just aren't sure that an endangered listing, and all the legal requirements it brings with it, is necessary to assure the health of this population at this time."
Other industry groups have also opposed the listing, fearing it might impede oil and gas development, commercial fishing, cargo shipping and other major construction projects in Cook Inlet.


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Beluga Whales

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Endangered Species Act

Source: redOrbit staff

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