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But the agency said an Endangered Species Act was not needed to protect the inlet's belugas because a single activity -- hunting by native Alaskans -- had caused the decline, and it could be regulated under another law.
The agency on May 31 classified the whales as depleted, a designation authorized under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. With the depleted designation in place, NMFS said, it was permitted to limit the hunt of belugas by Alaskan natives.
Based on the agency's review ``and a thorough review of human-related activities in Cook Inlet, we are confident that we have identified the source of the decline, which is over- harvesting,'' said Jim Balsinger, Alaska Regional Administrator for NMFS.
Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, only Alaskan natives -- Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts -- may hunt whales.
Cook Inlet is a busy shipping corridor and the site of several commercial and sport fishing harvests, as well as oil and gas production.