It said populations of the animals have steadily grown since the global community banned commercial whaling almost 50 years ago.
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The moratorium on whaling remains in effect, despite the new classifications. Four of the distinct population segments are still protected as endangered, and one is now listed as threatened.
A humpback whale surfaces next to a boat off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts.
The United States lifted protection for most humpback whales around the globe on Tuesday, including some in American waters, based on evidence they have made a strong comeback since commercial whaling drove them to near extinction.
With the removal of the humpback whales from the endangered list, federal agencies are no longer required to consult the NOAA regarding policies that could affect the marine mammals’ populations.
Whales that breed off Mexico and feed off California, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska will be listed as threatened.
“Today’s news is a true ecological success story”, said Eileen Sobeck, a fisheries administrator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Still, Tuesday’s announcement served as a dramatic milepost in the decades-long effort to restore humpbacks and other whales that were hunted nearly to extinction by the mid-20th century.
NOAA proposed past year to remove 10 of those 14 groups off the endangered list and gave the public 90 days to comment on the proposed change before finalizing its decision.
Nammack said fishing gear entanglement is a serious threat to the Western North Pacific humpbacks and that’s expected to increase.
Previously protected as endangered globally, today’s finding splits humpback whales into 14 populations. “I think everything thing we can do to protect that area for whales and all the other marine mammals and marine life that’s in it, it all contributes to having a healthy ocean”.
Center for Biological Diversity attorney Kristen Monsell said Tuesday that humpback whales face significant and growing threats, including getting entangled in fishing gear. But earlier this week, 9 of the 14 distinct groups of humpback were taken off the endangered list. It also reclassifies the Mexico population that feeds off the U.S. West Coast as threatened.
But an environmental group said the protections should stay in place.
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Rachel Cartwright, a lecturer in biology at CSU Channel Islands, said she thinks there’s a lot to celebrate about the rising numbers of humpback whales.
