Table 8.1. Commercial whale stocks.
a
Species Stock Prewhaling Present Source Latin binomial
Blue Whale
Global 250,000 3,000–10,000 Schmidt 1994
Balaenoptera musculus
Blue Whale
Antarctic 250,000 210–1,000 Myers 1993; IWC 1994
Bowhead Arctic
57,000 8,000
Scheffer
1994 Balaena mysticetus
Bryde’s Whale Global
100,000 90,000 Myers 1993
Balaenoptera edeni
Fin Whale S Hemis
b 548,000 15,000 Myers 1993; IWC 1994
Balaenoptera physalus
Fin Whale N Hemis 58,000 20,000 Evans 1987
Gray Whale
NE Pacific 12–15,000
21,000 Buckland et al. 1993; Schmidt 1994
Eschrichtius robustus
Humpback Global
115,000 20,000 Myers
1993 Megaptera novaeangliae
Humpback S
Hemis
b 22,000 IWC 1994
Minke Whale Global
140,000 725,000 Myers 1993 Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Minke Whale Antarctic
600,000 IWC 1994
Northern
Right
N Atlantic ? 350
Schmidt 1994 Eubalaena glacialis
Southern
Right
S Hemis
b 100,000 3,000
Myers 1993
Eubalaena australis
Sei Whale Global 256,00 54,000 Myers 1993
Balaenoptera borealis
Sei Whale S Hemis
b 98–135,000 8,300
Horwood 1987; IWC 1994
Sperm Whale Global
2,400,000 400,000 Myers 1993 Physeter catodon
Sperm Whale S Hemis
b 128,000 IWC 1994
a
The primary source for many of these data is the International Whaling Commission (IWC 1993, 1994). Note that the prewhaling estimates
are likely to be increased
resulting from the increased take of whales that was previously unreported by the USSR because prewhaling stock estimates are based
on the cumulative recorded harvests.
b
South of 30°S.