Designation of the Cook Inlet, Alaska, Stock of Beluga Whale as Depleted Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and Response to Petitions

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NMFS proposes to designate the Cook Inlet beluga whale stock as depleted under the MMPA. No Endangered Species Act (ESA) determination on listing this stock as a threatened or endangered species is made at this time. NMFS will issue an ESA determination within 12 months of NMFS's receipt of the petition (April 9, 1999), following the 1999 NMFS aerial survey and other factors which may affect such a determination. This action, pursuant to the MMPA, is necessary to address the sharp decline in the number of Cook Inlet beluga whales. It is intended as a conservation measure to reverse the decline and eventually to rebuild the numbers within the Cook Inlet beluga whale stock.