Recovery Plan for the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus): first revision Recovery Plan for the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) first revision to the July 1998 Recovery Plan for the Blue Whale

Commercial whaling was the main cause of blue whales’ historical decline, and is not a current operative threat because an international moratorium on commercial whaling implemented by 89 countries remains in place. Of those countries that engage in non-subsistence whaling, none are known to be taking blue whales. Therefore, a primary strategy of this Revised Recovery Plan is to maintain the international ban on commercial hunting that was instituted in 1986. Additionally, this Plan provides a strategy to improve our understanding regarding how potential threats may be limiting blue whale recovery. Finally, this Plan provides a research strategy to obtain data necessary to determine blue whale taxonomy, population structure, distribution, and habitat, which can then inform estimation of population abundance and trends. After the populations and their threats are more fully understood, this Plan will be modified to include actions to minimize any threats that are determined to be limiting recovery. Because blue whales move freely across international borders, it would be ineffective to confine recovery efforts to U.S. waters, and this Plan stresses the importance of a multinational approach to management. 2020 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) OPR (Office of Protected Resources) WCR (West Coast Region) Submitted Public Domain 1861