The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has completed a five-year review of the endangered southern resident killer whale, finding that the animal is still at risk of extinction and should remain on the endangered species list.
To ensure that species are receiving the needed protection, NOAA Fisheries conducts a review of those endangered every five years, according to a news release. It was charged with reviewing the status of the southern resident killer whales to confirm whether the species should remain on the endangered list under the Endangered Species Act.
“The Endangered Species Act five-year review on southern resident killer whales concluded that this species continues to face a high risk of extinction and should remain listed as endangered,” NOAA Fisheries said in the news release.
As part of the review, NOAA Fisheries said that efforts to restore the species could be boosted by expanding the habitat of the whale.
A healthy salmon population is also key to the whale's survival. So, NOAA looked at ways of increasing the salmon population, including limiting commercial and recreational salmon fishing, according to the release.
Other ways of ensuring the whale has enough food, according to NOAA, are releasing salmon from hatcheries and restoring the salmon's habitat to generate a healthy population to sustain the killer whales.
