Status Review of the Sakhalin Bay-Amur River Beluga Whale under the MMPA

On April 23, 2014, NOAA Fisheries received a petition from the Animal Welfare Institute, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Cetacean Society International, and Earth Island Institute (petitioners) to “designate the Sakhalin Bay-Amur River stock of beluga whales (Delphinapterus Ieucas)  as depleted under the MMPA.” The petition presents information asserting that NOAA Fisheries has authority to designate stocks outside of U.S. jurisdictional waters as depleted.