Science Advisory Report 2007/024
Recovery Potential - Allowable Harm Assessment of eastern Arctic bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus)
Summary
- In the eastern Canadian Arctic, reconstruction of the historical population using the available catch information provides an estimate of the minimum historical (pre-commercial whaling) population size of 12,300 (Woodby and Botkin 1993).
- A partial population estimate of 7,309 (95% CI = 3,161-16,900) bowheads, corrected for diving animals, resulted from a survey of Eclipse Sound, Prince Regent Inlet and Gulf of Boothia in 2002.
- A recovery target of 70% of historical population size would correspond to approximately 8,600 whales.
- The eastern Arctic bowhead population is not compromised if all human induced mortality is kept below 15 animals per year, but smaller harvest will promote quicker recovery.
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