Identification of 14 Distinct Population Segments of the Humpback Whale and Revision of Species-Wide Listing; Final Rule

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), are amending the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (List) by removing the current species-level listing of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), and in its place listing the Cape Verde Islands/Northwest Africa, Western North Pacific, Central America, and Arabian Sea distinct population segments (DPSs) as endangered and the Mexico DPS as threatened. Humpback whales in the remaining DPSs will no longer be protected under the Act. This amendment is based on a previously published determination by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce, which has jurisdiction for this species.