Keynote Presentations: GLOBAL ADVANCES AND NEEDS FOR BELUGA RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION 9:30-10:00am | Global Review of the Conservation Status of Monodontid Stocks

DAY 1 | TUESDAY, MARCH 12 *Presenting Author Keynote Presentations: GLOBAL ADVANCES AND NEEDS FOR BELUGA RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION 9:30-10:00am | Global Review of the Conservation Status of Monodontid Stocks Roderick C. Hobbs1, Randall R. Reeves2*, Jill S. Prewitt3, Geneviève Desportes3, Kaitlin BretonHoneyman4, Tom Christensen5, John J. Citta6, Steven H. Ferguson7, Kathryn J. Frost8, Eva Garde9, Maria Gavrilo10, Maha Ghazal11, Dmitri M. Glazov12, Jean-Francois Gosselin13, Mike Hammill13, Rikke G. Hansen9, Lois Harwood14, Mads Peter Heide-Joergensen9, Gerald Inglangasuk15, Kit M. Kovacs16, Vera V. Krasnova17, Daria M. Kuznetsova12, David S. Lee18, Véronique Lesage13, Dennis I. Litovka19, Eline Lorenzen20, Lloyd F. Lowry8, Christian Lydersen16, Cory J. D. Matthews7, Ilya G. Meschersky12, Arnaud Mosnier13, Gregory O’Corry-Crowe21, Lianne Postma7, Lori T. Quakenbush6, Olga V. Shpak12, Mikkel Skovrind20, Robert S. Suydam22, and Cortney A. Watt7 1North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission, Sykehusveien 21-23, N-9294, Tromsø, Norway ; 2Okapi Wildlife Associates, Hudson, Quebec, J0P 1H0, Canada; 3North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission, Sykehusveien 2123, N-9294, Tromsø, Norway; 4Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Board, Nunavik, Quebec, JOM 1MO, Canada; 5Aarhus University and Arctic Council’s Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program, Akureyri, 600, Iceland; 6Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fairbanks, Alaska, 99701, USA; 7Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N6, Canada; 8Alaska Beluga Whale Committee, Utqiagvik, Alaska, 99723, USA; 9Greenland Institute of Natural Resources c/o Greenland Representation, København K, Copenhagen, MHQJ+8H, Denmark; 10Association Maritime Heritage, Icebreaker Museum Krassin, Saint-Petersburg, 199106, Russia; 11Government of Nunavut, Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada; 12Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119071, Russia; 13Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Mont-Joli, Quebec, G5H 3Z4, Canada; 14Oceans Program, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, X1A 1E2, Canada; 15Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Inuvik, Northwest Territories, X0E 0T0, Canada; 16Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296, Tromsø, Norway; 17Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117997, Russia; 18Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, Department of Wildlife and Environment, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5E7, Canada; 19Marine Mammal Laboratory, ChukotTINRO, Anadyr, Chukotka, 689000, Russia; 20University of Copenhagen, Section for Evolutionary Genomics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, 1350, Denmark; 21Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, Florida, 34946, USA; 22North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, Utqiagvik, Alaska, 99723, USA Abstract Monodontids, belugas, Delphinapterus leucas and narwhals, Monodon monoceros, are found in much of the Arctic and in some subarctic areas. They are hunted by indigenous subsistence users, and in theMonodontids, belugas, Delphinapterus leucas and narwhals, Monodon monoceros, are found in much of the Arctic and in some subarctic areas. They are hunted by indigenous subsistence users, and in the past, some populations were substantially reduced by commercial hunting and culling. More recently, some populations have declined due to uncontrolled subsistence hunting and environmental degradation.