UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN ... - Bizjournals

Case 1:13-cv-03241-AT Document 1 Filed 09/30/13 Page 52 of 64report occur only in the Shantar region of the Sea of Okhotsk and not in theSakhalin-Amur area where the 18 beluga whales were collected. There were noreported subsistence takes in that report as to beluga whales found in the Sakhalin-Amur area, which Defendants assert is the relevant population group.118. The second possible source of additional mortality cited byDefendants is deaths associated with live capture. However, the permit denialreports only one such death between 2007 and 2010.119. The third possible source of additional mortality cited by Defendantsis entanglement in fishing nets. However, the permit denial states that since 1915,nearly 100 years ago, only a “few cases have been reported” and that belugawhales are “unusual among cetaceans in their ability to avoid entanglement.”120. The fourth possible source of additional mortality cited by Defendantsis vessel strikes. However, the permit denial states: “There have been no reportsof vessel strikes or evidence of strikes ... reported for this population.”121. The fifth possible source of additional mortality cited by Defendantsis climate change. However, the permit denial states “there are insufficient data tomake reliable predictions on the effects of Arctic climate change on belugawhales....”52