Estimates of the probability of striking a western North Pacific gray whale during the proposed Makah hunt: 2019 update

Observations of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) from the western North Pacific (WNP) migrating to areas off the coast of North America (Alaska to Mexico) raised concerns that this small population could be encountered during a hunt of eastern North Pacific (ENP) gray whales proposed by the Makah Indian Tribe in northern Washington, USA. In 2013, an analysis was conducted to estimate the probability of striking (i.e. killing or seriously injuring) a WNP whale under the Makah Tribe’s hunt proposal (Moore and Weller 2013). This analysis was updated in 2018 (Moore and Weller 2018) to account for new data and a revised draft proposal by NOAA Fisheries for governing ENP gray whale hunts by the Makah Tribe for up to 10 years. Here, we again re-estimate the probability of striking a WNP whale based on a new (higher) population size estimate and a new (lower) and more precise estimate of the proportion of WNP whales mixing with ENP whales during migration. 2019 Makah hunt Gray whales Southwest Fisheries Science Center Marine Mammal and Turtle Division Submitted https://doi.org/10.25923/29ft-5w56 Public Domain 2189