By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Federal fisheries officials expect to have a final management plan in place in early August for future belugas whale hunts in Cook Inlet, but a larger decision on whether to list the belugas in that area as threatened or endangered won't come until October.

A decision on whether to accord the whales federal protection was supposed to come in April, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration postponed that decision to do one more Cook Inlet beluga survey. Results of that survey, now in process, will be considered in determining whether the whales are threatened or endangered.

Endangered means there is a serious risk of extinction, while threatened means survival of the population is uncertain, but is considered at risk.

In either case, private entities or government agencies involved in projects in the area where belugas inhabit must meet a number of criteria to protect the species.

Steve Davis of NOAA Fisheries said June 27 that last year's survey showed roughly 340 belugas, and that a minimum of 350 belugas was needed to allow for an Alaska Native subsistence hunt in that area.

In the late 1990s, there were over 1,000 belugas in the area, but uncontrolled subsistence hunting decreased the population, Davis said. No subsistence hunt was conducted in 2006 and 2007 and none is planned for 2008.

A final environmental impact statement for management of Alaska Native subsistence hunting for beluga whales in Cook Inlet was released June 20. While federal law provides for traditional subsistence harvests by Alaska Natives, the federal government may regulate these harvests when species are depleted.

Doug Mecum, acting administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service Alaska region, said the final EIS provides a long-term framework for subsistence harvest when the population recovers sufficiently.

The preferred alternative in the Cook Inlet beluga whale subsistence harvest final supplemental environmental impact statement would allow harvests only when the five-year average abundance is above 350 whales. The five-year population average from 2003 to 2007 was 336 belugas.

NOAA Fisheries scientists and managers have studied the Cook Inlet belugas since 1993. They found that the population declined an average of 2.7 percent annually between 1999 and 2007.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com">margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.