Narwhals require targeted conservation.

Narwhals are one of three highly specialized whale species that are endemic to the Arctic ([ 1 ][1]). The global narwhal population may number more than 100,000 individuals, but the species persists as a complex, highly divided meta-population, with limited or no exchange between neighboring subpopulations ([ 1 ][1]). Several narwhal populations in Greenland are suffering from low and declining numbers, and unsustainable hunting is putting the species at risk of local extirpation ([ 1 ][1]–[ 5 ][2]). Narwhal conservation requires human activities to be managed at the scale of subpopulations, each of which has its own environmental conditions and exploitation history. In Melville Bay, the number of narwhals killed by hunters has likely been unsustainable for a decade or more. From 2007 to 2019, the size of the area used by narwhals in Melville Bay has shrunk by 84% from 16,000 to 2600 km2 ([ 6 ][3]). The North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) and the Canada-Greenland Joint Commission on Conservation and Management of Narwhal and Beluga recommended a limit of 280 removals between 2015 and 2019 ([ 2 ][4]), but the estimated accumulated removal during this period was at least 423 narwhals ([ 7 ][5]). In Southeast Greenland, the Scientific Committee of NAMMCO recommended in 2017—and reiterated in 2018—that annual catches should be reduced to fewer than 20 narwhals and that no narwhal should be taken south of 68°N ([ 3 ][6], [ 4 ][7]). When improved population modeling outputs became available in 2019, the Scientific Committee changed its recommendation to a moratorium on narwhal hunting throughout Southeast Greenland ([ 5 ][2]). Even so, the catches from 2017 to 2019 totaled 268 animals ([ 5 ][2]). The effects of the ongoing overharvesting can be seen in the population composition: a decreased proportion of females, an overrepresentation of old males, and an absence of calves and juveniles ([ 5 ][2]). The quota for 2020 is set at 58 narwhals ([ 8 ][8], [ 9 ][9]); this level of harvest could put the long-term existence of the narwhal stocks in Southeast Greenland in jeopardy. The narwhal is regarded as the most sensitive of all Arctic endemic marine mammals to climate change because of its adaptations to a narrow sea-temperature niche, dependence on sea ice, specialized feeding habits, relatively restricted range, and general sensitivity to ocean noise and other forms of anthropogenic disturbance ([ 1 ][1]). It is vital for authorities in Greenland to accept scientific advice regarding regional narwhal population declines and take the need for responsible management seriously. Given the extreme site fidelity of narwhals ([ 1 ][1]), individuals from other populations are unlikely to recolonize localities where the species has been extirpated. The loss of a local narwhal population from a specific fjord system is likely to be permanent. 1. [↵][10]1. R. C. Hobbs et al ., Mar. Fish. Rev. 81, 1 (2019). [OpenUrl][11] 2. [↵][12]NAMMCO, “Report of the 22nd Scientific Committee meeting” (2015). 3. [↵][13]NAMMCO, “Report of the 24th Scientific Committee meeting” (2017). 4. [↵][14]NAMMCO, 2018. “Report of the 25th Scientific Committee meeting” (2018). 5. [↵][15]NAMMCO, “Report of the 26th Scientific Committee meeting” (2019). 6. [↵][16]1. R. G. Hansen et al ., “Trends in abundance and distribution of narwhals ( Monodon monoceros ) on the summering grounds in Inglefield Bredning and Melville Bay, Greenland from 2007–2019” (NAMMCO–JCNB Joint Working Group on Narwhals and Belugas, 2020). 7. [↵][17]Government of Greenland, “Recommendations, quotas, and catches for the most important species” (2020); [in Danish]. 8. [↵][18]Government of Greenland, “2020 quotas for belugas and narwhals” (2020); [in Danish]. 9. [↵][19]Government of Greenland, Press release 15/6/2020 from the Department of Fisheries, Hunting and Agriculture, Journal number 2020-1593, File 13998768 (2020) [in Danish]. [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-5 [3]: #ref-6 [4]: #ref-2 [5]: #ref-7 [6]: #ref-3 [7]: #ref-4 [8]: #ref-8 [9]: #ref-9 [10]: #xref-ref-1-1 "View reference 1 in text" [11]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DMar.%2BFish.%2BRev.%26rft.volume%253D81%26rft.spage%253D1%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [12]: #xref-ref-2-1 "View reference 2 in text" [13]: #xref-ref-3-1 "View reference 3 in text" [14]: #xref-ref-4-1 "View reference 4 in text" [15]: #xref-ref-5-1 "View reference 5 in text" [16]: #xref-ref-6-1 "View reference 6 in text" [17]: #xref-ref-7-1 "View reference 7 in text" [18]: #xref-ref-8-1 "View reference 8 in text" [19]: #xref-ref-9-1 "View reference 9 in text"