Juneau -- The Alaska House of Representatives Thursday unanimously passed House Joint Resolution 28, which asks the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Congress to act immediately to reverse the decline of Cook Inlet Beluga Whales. HJR 28 also asks that the NMFS be granted authority for regulation of the harvest of Belugas until the population has recovered.

"Despite the fact that the available data on these animals is weak and incomplete, the information that is available indicates that the Beluga population appears to be declining," said Representative Gail Phillips (R-Homer), sponsor of HJR 28. "National Marine Fisheries Service data indicates that the Cook Inlet Beluga population is around 350 animals - about half what it was in 1994 - and that, if the present trend is not reversed, the animals could become extinct within a decade. Both NMFS and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game say the harvest needs to be reduced from the 70-80 which are now taken annually to fewer than seven, to allow for recovery."

"We have been advised that some environmental and animal rights groups have petitioned NMFS to list the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale under the Endangered Species Act as either threatened or endangered," Phillips said. "Such a listing could have devastating effects on the local economy, impacting every area from oil exploration and production, to commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing, and to shipping in Cook Inlet.

"There is a real sense of urgency here," Phillips said. "There is little doubt that the federal courts will look favorably at listing these animals, so the time to begin reversing the decline is now, before it even gets to court. We need Congress to grant the NMFS the authority to regulate the harvest before the species is depleted."

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= Gail Phillips, 83 K