Most humpback whales to be taken off federal endangered species list
Source: The Guardian
Federal authorities are taking most humpback whales off the endangered species list, saying they have recovered enough in the last 40 years to warrant being removed.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) said on Monday that nine of the 14 distinct populations of humpbacks would be removed, while four distinct populations remain listed as endangered and one as threatened.
Last year the NMFS, an office of the 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.
It said populations of the animals had steadily grown since the international community banned commercial whaling nearly 50 years ago.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/06/humpback-whales-endangered-species-list
Judi Lynn
(160,656 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,399 posts)including turtles and coral, and they aren't fished either:
NOAA Fisheries, also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, is an office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the Department of Commerce. We have five regional offices, six science centers, and more than 20 laboratories around the United States and U.S. territories, and we work with partners across the nation.
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aboutus/aboutus.html
They have the expertise.