The U.S. government on Monday proposed removing most of the world's humpback whale population from the endangered species list, saying they have rebounded after 45 years of protections. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries wants to reclassify humpbacks into 14 distinct populations, and remove 10 of those from the list. "As we learn more about the species — and realize the populations are largely independent of each other — managing them separately allows us to focus protection on the animals that need it the most," Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries, said in a statement. 
 
 Humpbacks were listed as endangered in 1970, four years after the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling. The whales, which weigh 25 to 40 tons and can grow up to 60 feet long, have rebounded in the North Pacific since the listing, which requires federal approval for federally funded or authorized activities that could harm whales or their habitat. Last year, the state of Alaska filed a petition to remove some North Pacific humpback whales from protection under the Endangered Species Act. That population, estimated at more than 5,800, feeds in Alaska in the summer and breeds in Hawaii in winter. 
 
 Environmental groups have said North Pacific whales continue to be vulnerable to factors including increased shipping, climate change and ocean acidification, which affects the prey stock. The NOAA said in a release announcing its proposal that protection and restoration efforts have led to an increase in humpbacks in many areas. Under the plan, two of the populations would be listed as threatened, in Central America and the Western North Pacific. The agency said these whales at times enter U.S. waters. The other two populations — in the Arabian Sea and off Cape Verde and northwest Africa — would remain listed as endangered. The public has 90 days to comment on the recommended changes. 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Google Plus 
 
 Embed 29-foot whale shark washes ashore in Ecuador 0:31 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 IN-DEPTH 
 
 SOCIAL 
 
 Humpback population growth, scientific review suggests change to their listing status under ESA. Your comments sought http://t.co/jusjyNSeOU — NOAA Fisheries (@NOAAFisheries) April 20, 2015 
 
 — The Associated Press ||||| NOAA devises 14 population segments to allow them to protect those that need help most but activists say the whales are too ‘complicated’ for such judgment 
 
 Humpback whales, endangered no more? Most may be removed from list 
 
 Most of the world’s humpback whales could soon be taken off the endangered species list. 
 
 On Monday, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposed that humpbacks be split into 14 population segments, allowing for 10 populations to be removed from the endangered list. 
 
 Two of the other four populations would be listed as threatened, and only the humpbacks of the Arabian Sea and north-west Africa would remain listed as endangered. 
 
 The other 10 populations would still be protected under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act. Currently, all humpback whales are listed as endangered. 
 
 “As we learn more about the species – and realize the populations are largely independent of each other – managing them separately allows us to focus protection on the animals that need it the most,” Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries, said in a statement. 
 
 The proposal is likely to face opposition from conservationists. One, Regina Asmutis-Silvia, executive director and senior biologist for Whale and Dolphin Conservation North America, said the proposal was premature. 
 
 “Humpbacks are a really complicated species to really review for declaring these distinct population segments,” she told the Guardian on Monday. “They are highly migratory in most places, but not everywhere.” 
 
 According to Jennifer Kennedy, executive director of Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation, even if a particular population seems to be doing well, there are other problems to consider, including entanglement and boat accidents. 
 
 “We could be having as many if not more animals getting entangled each year than can reproduce,” said Asmutis-Silvia, who said the humpback population off the coast of New England could be losing 3% a year to entanglement, while about 15% of such whales had been hit by a boat. 
 
 “It’s not so simple as drawing a line and saying: ‘They belong to this population and there’s a lot of them so we are going to take them off the list’,” Asmutis-Silvia said. 
 
 A humpback whale dives. Photograph: Alamy 
 
 The proposal is now open to a 90-day public comment period. 
 
 “They are certainly going to get a lot of feedback from us,” said Asmutis-Silvia, adding that the public should be interested in this issue as humpback whales play an important role in both the ecosystem and the local economy. 
 
 “They have an economic value. Internationally, they are probably the No 1 species targeted by whale watching,” she said. “So, there’s a vested interest in making sure that these populations are maintained and healthy.” ||||| The U.S. government proposed removing most of the world’s humpback whale populations from the federal endangered species list today, saying that many of the marine mammals have recovered in the 45 years since they were first listed. “We’re happy to announce a conservation success story,” said Donna Wieting, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Office of Protected Resources, in a telephone press conference today. She explained that efforts to bring the species back from the brink of extinction worked. 
 
 “This is good news for whales and whale conservation and should be cause for celebration, not a reason to run screaming from the room,” says Patrick Ramage, whale program director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. “It shows that when we take appropriate steps to protect whales, they can recover.” 
 
 The proposal will reclassify the world’s humpback populations—the most iconic of whale species—into 14 distinct segments based on scientists’ recommendations. If the proposal is approved (which is expected to happen next year), only two of these populations will remain on the endangered list; another two will be considered threatened. The threatened populations—the Central American and the Western North Pacific humpbacks—enter U.S. waters during their migrations. But the two that will keep their endangered status—Arabian Sea and Cape Verde Islands—do not. 
 
 Humpbacks no longer protected by the federal Endangered Species Act will continue to be guarded by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which offers many of the same protections, Wieting says. 
 
 Humpback whales were placed on the endangered species list in 1970 after the whaling industry severely depleted their numbers around the world. Indeed, the humpback numbers were so low the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned hunting them in 1966. Only in 1982 did the IWC enact a ban on the commercial whaling of all whale species. 
 
 The new proposal stems from a 2010 NOAA Fisheries review of humpback whales, which number about 100,000 today. Using morphological, genetic, and biogeographical data, the agency determined that humpback whales are not a single global population, but are instead 14 distinct segments that rarely intermingle. For instance, the Arabian Sea population migrates laterally between the shores of Yemen and India; the 13 other humpback populations make similar seasonal migrations, but do so longitudinally. Some travel about 6400 kilometers between their breeding and feeding grounds. “As we learn more about the species—and realize the populations are largely independent of each other—managing them separately allows us to focus protection on the animals that need it most,” said Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries, in a press release. 
 
 The new population classification should be seen as a “sign of progress in our understanding and recognition of biological populations,” says Scott Baker, a conservation geneticist at Oregon State University, Corvallis, whose lab provided some of the data for the reclassification. Each population, he explains, “has an independent history of whaling and recovery. Some have done very well, and others have lagged behind.” 
 
 Scientists say that some humpback whale populations were hunted more than others, and for longer periods of time, which explains why certain populations remain low. There are perhaps 500 in the Arabian Sea, whereas 10,000 come to Hawaiian waters to breed, and another 21,800 travel between Western Australia and Antarctica. A previous study suggests that prior to whaling, humpbacks numbered about 125,000. 
 
 Conservationists generally agree with NOAA Fisheries’ recommendations, while warning that humpbacks—and all whale species—continue to face threats from such things as fishing gear entanglement, ship strikes, energy development, pollution, climate change, and ocean acidification. “While the proposal is positive news on some fronts, it’s important to understand that some populations are still recovering and under risk of extinction,” says Howard Rosenbaum, a marine biologist and director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s oceans giants program. “And the U.S. is not removing [those population segments] from the endangered list.” 
 
 NOAA Fisheries’ proposal will be available for public comment for the next 90 days. ||||| By giving us your feedback, you can help improve your www.NOAA.gov experience. This short, anonymous survey only takes just a few minutes to complete 11 questions. Thank you for your input! 
 
 Successful conservation efforts recognized in revised ESA Humpback Whale listing 
 
 Reclassification into 14 distinct population segments will provide more tailored management approach 
 
 
 
 NOAA's proposal to reclassify humpback whales into 14 distinct population segments will offer fisheries managers a more tailored conservation approach. (Credit: NOAA) 
 
 NOAA Fisheries proposed today to reclassify the humpback whale into 14 distinct population segments under the Endangered Species Act, providing a more tailored conservation approach for U.S. fisheries managers. Protection and restoration efforts over the past 40 years have led to an increase in numbers and growth rates for humpback whales in many areas. 
 
 The humpback whale is currently listed as endangered throughout its range. The proposed rule finds that ten of those 14 populations do not warrant ESA listing. 
 
 
 
 While commercial whaling severely depleted humpback whale numbers, population rebounds in many areas result in today’s larger numbers, with steady rates of population growth since the United States first listed the animal as endangered in 1970. 
 
 
 
 Also under the proposal, two of the other four populations would be listed as endangered and the remaining two would be listed as threatened. If the proposal is finalized, the humpback whale populations that would no longer be listed under the ESA would remain protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 
 
 NOAA Fisheries initiated an extensive review of the status of humpback whales in 2010, the results of which support separating the species into distinct population segments. The review also finds that many of the populations are not in danger of extinction (endangered) or likely to become so in the foreseeable future (threatened). 
 
 “The return of the iconic humpback whale is an ESA success story,” said Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries. “As we learn more about the species -- and realize the populations are largely independent of each other -- managing them separately allows us to focus protection on the animals that need it the most.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 Approximate locations of proposed humpback whale distinct population segments: 1. West Indies, 2. Cape Verde Islands/Northwest Africa, 3. Western North Pacific, 4. Hawaii, 5. Mexico, 6. Central America, 7. Brazil, 8. Gabon/Southwest Africa, 9. Southeast Africa/Madagascar, 10. West Australia, 11. East Australia, 12. Oceania, 13. Southeastern Pacific, 14. Arabian Sea. (Credit: NOAA) 
 
 The two populations proposed as threatened – the Central America and the Western North Pacific – at times enter U.S. waters. Two other populations that do not enter U.S. waters – in the Arabian Sea and off Cape Verde Islands/Northwest Africa – would remain listed as endangered. 
 
 NOAA Fisheries is opening up a 90-day public comment period for this proposed rule. During this time, NOAA Fisheries welcomes public comments and any new information to ensure that our final determination is based on the best available scientific and commercial information. 
 
 You may submit comments, information, or data on this document, identified by the code NOAA-NMFS-2015-0035, by any of the following methods: 
 
 Electronic Submissions : Submit all electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D= NOAA-NMFS-2015-0035, click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments. 
 
 Mail: Submit written comments to Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 
 
 For general information on humpback whales, go to: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/whales/humpback-whale.html 
 
 
 
 To read the the proposal’s Federal Register notice, go to: https://federalregister.gov/a/2015-09010 
 
 Humpback Whale Images Slideshow and Facts vs. Fiction Information: http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/stories/2015/02/02_11_14humpback_fact_vs_fiction.html 
 
 
 
 Humpback whale B-roll: https://vimeo.com/111689294 
 
 
 
 NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our other social media channels. 
 
 
 

– NOAA says it's a whale of a success story: Most of the world's humpback whale populations, including all those that enter US waters, are no longer endangered, according to the agency. NOAA, which says 45 years of protection have helped whale populations rebound, wants to reclassify the species into 14 populations, only two of which would be classed as endangered, NBC News reports. The Central America and western North Pacific populations, which sometimes enter US waters, would be classed as threatened under the NOAA proposal, while the Arabian Sea and Cape Verde Islands populations would still be considered endangered. All 14 populations would remain protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. "This is good news for whales and whale conservation and should be cause for celebration, not a reason to run screaming from the room," the whale program director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare tells Science. "It shows that when we take appropriate steps to protect whales, they can recover." A senior biologist for Whale and Dolphin Conservation North America, however, tells the Guardian that the proposal seems premature. The species is too complicated to split into just 14 populations, she says, and they still face multiple threats, including boat strikes and entanglement. (A daring crew from the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary used a knife on a pole to free a 45-ton whale entangled in fishing line.)