HARROW: U.S. fisheries managers on Monday proposed lifting protections for most humpback whales around the globe, including in American waters, based on evidence the mammals have made a strong comeback since commercial whaling drove them near extinction.
The humpback whale is currently listed as endangered throughout its range. But under a plan that opened on Monday for public comment, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is proposing to classify most of the world’s humpback populations into 14 groups with varying forms of protections under federal law.
The stripping of safeguards under the Endangered Species Act means U.S. ships and commercial fishermen in international waters would no longer be bound by law to check levels of underwater noise that could constitute harassment of the whales, while vessel strikes that kill or injure the humpbacks might not be closely tracked.
The proposed reclassification would see most humpback whales that enter U.S. waters in states such as Hawaii and California removed from the federal endangered and threatened species list along with eight other populations in countries including Mexico and Australia, said Donna Wieting, director of NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Protected Resources.
The whales would remain endangered, providing the strictest of protections, in the Arabian Sea and off the Cape Verde Islands in northwest Africa. They would be upgraded to threatened in Central American waters and the western North Pacific off Japan, according to the proposal.
U.S.-funded projects in other countries must abide by endangered species protections, as must U.S. commercial fishermen operating in international waters.
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