Protected from commercial whaling for nearly 50 years, the humpback has rebounded. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)

Federal authorities took most humpback whales off the endangered species list Tuesday, saying their numbers have recovered through international efforts to protect the giant mammals.

Humpback whale numbers have steadily grown since a global ban on commercial whaling started nearly 50 years ago. The whaling ban remains in effect, despite the new classification.

The National Marine Fisheries Service said it found evidence to indicate there are 14 distinct populations of humpback whales around the world. It said that nine of those populations have recovered to the point where they no longer need Endangered Species Act protections. Those include whales that winter in Hawaii, the West Indies and Australia.

Before, the agency had classified all humpbacks as one population. They had been listed as endangered since 1970.

“Today’s news is a true ecological success story,” said Eileen Sobeck, a fisheries administrator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A humpback whale surfaces next to a boat off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Federal authorities hailed the whale’s partial removal from the endangered-species list as a victory for protection efforts. (Elise Amendola/Associated Press)

The whales will continue to be protected under other federal laws, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Boats still will have to stay a specific distance away from humpback whales in the waters off Hawaii and Alaska.

A Hawaii fishermen’s group that petitioned for removing whales from the list three years ago said it was happy with the decision.

“We just saw a lot of whales. So we thought this is a success in ocean management, and we wanted to point that out to the world — that things are good with whales in Hawaii,” said Phil Fernandez, president of the Hawaii Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition.

An estimated 11,000 humpback whales breed in Hawaiian waters each winter and migrate to Alaska to feed during the summer, the Fisheries Service said.

But an environmental group said the protections should stay in place.

“These whales face several significant and growing threats, including entanglement in fishing gear, so ending protections now is a step in the wrong direction,” Kristen Monsell, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.

Humpbacks that breed in Central America in the winter and feed off California and the Pacific Northwest in the summer are among those that will remain on the endangered list.

Marta Nammack, of the Fisheries Service, said that’s because the population is estimated at only about 400 whales. Those whales also face threats from collisions with boats and getting entangled in fishing gear, she said.