article_snippet.sent: Humpback whale populations are to be declassified as 'endangered' following a successful conservation programme.
article_snippet.sent: Noaa Fisheries in Maryland Maryland says humpback whale is no longer endangered.
article_snippet.sent: Humans hunted the whales in high numbers, killing 200,000 before Humans listing as endangered in 1970, four years after the International Whaling Commission banned commercial humpback whaling.
article_snippet.sent: the International Whaling Commission put a stop to all commercial whaling in 1986.
article_snippet.sent: All the whales remain protected under the Marine Mammals Protection Act, and the US is still an active member of the International Whaling Commission.
article_snippet.sent: According to the International Whaling Commission website, there are only a few places in the world that still allow hunting of humpback whales, and that is for aboriginal subsistence only.
article_snippet.sent: Three nations, Japan, Norway and Iceland, still allow the animals to be killed for scientific research.
article_snippet.sent: Humpbacks are found around the world, and officials say protection and restoration efforts have increased protection and restoration numbers in many areas.
article_snippet.sent: Protection and restoration efforts have been taking place over the last 40 years after a dramatic reduction in humpback whale numbers.
article_snippet.sent: Until the International Whaling Commission gave humpback whale numbers protection in 1966, more than 200,000 were killed by commercial whalers.
article_snippet.sent: ‘The return of the iconic humpback whale is an ESA [Endangered Species Act] success story,’ said Eileen Sobeck, assistant Noaa administrator for fisheries.
article_snippet.sent: ‘The sad fact is that, despite that ban, whales are still being hunted on our doorstep here in European waters and we need to do more to protect them and give whale populations here the opportunity to recover in the same way that these humpbacks have.
article_snippet.sent: Yes, cetacean populations [which include marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises] have increased, but not to anything like the pre-whaling days.
highlights_snippet.sent: Noaa Fisheries in Maryland says humpback whale is no longer endangered .
  