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Case 1:13-cv-03241-AT Document 1 Filed 09/30/13 Page 36 of 64animals. In addition, (1) a 20th-percentile minimum population estimate was used,(2) the estimated net productivity (i.e., reproduction) factor was halved, and (3) arecovery factor was applied that again halved the estimated PBR.71. To calculate the PBR, the IUCN expert panel used a minimumpopulation estimate of 2,891, then multiplied that number by one-half the acceptednet productivity rate of 4% for belugas, and then multiplied that number by a 0.5recovery factor. This resulted in an annual PBR of 29 animals, later corrected to30 per year based on data analysis that used an additional pooling of datarecommended by the IUCN panel. This annual PBR is one percent of the IUCNminimum population estimate and well above the 2007-2011 five-year averageremoval of 22 animals. However, if the IUCN had used the population sizeestimation methods, including the population correction factors, NMFS appliespursuant to the MMPA for calculating the PBR for beluga whale stocks in theeastern Chukchi Sea, eastern Bering Sea, and Bristol Bay in the U.S., then theIUCN PBR calculation would increase to 46 per year. The collection of the 18whales proposed for import occurred over a three-year period.72. The IUCN PBR calculations were based on the assumption that thewhales found in the Sakhalin-Amur area are a distinct and separate populationgroup. However, the data indicate this is not the case. The Sea of Okhotsk36
Case 1:13-cv-03241-AT Document 1 Filed 09/30/13 Page 37 of 64features three beluga whale summer aggregations, one in the Sakhalin-Amurregion, one in the adjacent Shantar region (comprised of four bays), and one in theShelikov region. The Shelikov population is distinct from the other two and, basedon existing data and geographic considerations, should not be considered part ofthe Shantar and Sakhalin-Amur aggregations. However, data on migrationpatterns, data regarding the mixing during the breeding season of whales from thegroups that summer in the Shantar and Sakhalin-Amur areas, and genetic analysesall show that the Shantar and Sakhalin-Amur populations are related and should beconsidered as one group for calculating PBR.73. As to genetic analysis, data for 19 microsatellite loci (i.e., nuclearDNA inherited from both parents) indicate the beluga whales in the Shantar regionand the whales in the Sakhalin-Amur region are not genetically differentiated butinstead belong to one genetically homogeneous population. The mitochondrialDNA (“mtDNA”) (i.e., a small part of the cellular DNA usually inherited onlyfrom the mother) data indicate female belugas have a degree of fidelity to specificsummering areas, but it is not absolute and mtDNA is shared by belugas in thedifferent summering areas. The genetic data, particularly for microsatellite loci,indicate there is considerable interbreeding of the animals in all areas in theShantar and Sakhalin-Amur regions over time. The combined microsatellite and37
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