Status Review of the Humpback Whale (MEGAPTERA NOVAEANGLIAE) Under the Endangered Species Act.

摘要

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) were listed as endangered in 1970 under the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969, the precursor to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). When the ESA was enacted in 1973, humpback whales were included in the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (the List) as endangered and were considered as “depleted” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). In May 2010, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) convened the Humpback Whale Biological Review Team (BRT) to conduct a comprehensive review of the status of humpback whales as the basis for considering revisions to this species’ listing status. The ESA, as amended in 1978, defines a species to be “any subspecies of fish or wildlife or plants, and any distinct population segment of any species of vertebrate fish or wildlife which interbreeds when mature” (Section 3(16)). Guidance on what constitutes a “distinct population segment” (DPS) is provided by the joint NMFS-Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) interagency policy on vertebrate populations (61 FR 4722, 7 February 1996). To be considered a DPS, a population, or group of populations, must be “discrete” from the remainder of the taxon to which it belongs; and “significant” to the taxon to which it belongs. Information on distribution, ecological situation, genetics, and other factors is used to evaluate a population’s discreteness and significance. Conducting an ESA status review therefore involves two key tasks: identifying the taxonomic units (species, subspecies or DPS) to be evaluated, and assessing the risk of extinction for each of these units.