UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN ... - Bizjournals

Case 1:13-cv-03241-AT Document 1 Filed 09/30/13 Page 34 of 6467. According to the analysis conducted by scientists of the SevertsovInstitute, the average annual removal of 20 beluga whales from the Sea of Okhotskfrom 2000-2010 is less than one percent of the population group from which thewhales were collected (the whales in the Sakhalin-Amur area) and is below theallowed potential biological removal (“PBR”) for that group.68. The data on population levels and dynamics gathered from the studyby the Severtsov Institute were peer reviewed by a panel of beluga whale expertsselected by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and NaturalResources (“IUCN”). The resulting report, titled “Report of an IndependentScientific Review Panel,” was published in 2011. The IUCN IndependentScientific Review Panel was comprised of six noted beluga whale experts: Dr. R.R. Reeves, Dr. R. L. Brownell, Jr., Dr. V. Burkanov, Dr. M. C. S. Kingsley, Dr. L.F. Lowry, and Dr. B. L. Taylor. Four of these six scientists are current or formersenior scientists at NMFS. One of the current NMFS scientists is the leader of theNMFS Marine Mammal Genetics Group. One of the former senior NMFSscientists is now the Chairman of the Committee of Scientific Advisers of the U.S.Marine Mammal Commission created under the MMPA.69. As defined by the MMPA, the PBR for a population is the number ofanimals that may be removed from a stock each year without adversely affecting34