Yes, it is illegal to hunt whales in Utah, but the prohibition comes from federal law rather than any Utah statute. The Marine Mammal Protection Act bans the killing or harassment of any marine mammal by anyone subject to U.S. jurisdiction, no matter which state they’re standing in. The Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act add further penalties on top. Utah has never written its own whale-hunting ban because it doesn’t need one, and because no whale has ever lived in its waters.
What Federal Law Prohibits
The Marine Mammal Protection Act, passed in 1972, imposed a blanket moratorium on “taking” any marine mammal in U.S. waters or by any person subject to U.S. jurisdiction, regardless of where that person is located.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 U.S.C. 1371 – Moratorium on Taking and Importing Marine Mammals and Marine Mammal Products “Take” is defined broadly to include hunting, harassing, capturing, or killing a marine mammal, along with any attempt to do so.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 U.S.C. Chapter 31 – Marine Mammal Protection The reach of the statute is personal, not geographic: a Utah resident is as bound by it as a fisherman in Massachusetts.
The penalties are serious. A civil violation carries a fine of up to $10,000 per incident. A knowing criminal violation is punishable by a fine of up to $20,000, up to one year in prison, or both.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 U.S.C. 1375 – Penalties Federal authorities can also seize any vessel, vehicle, or cargo used in the illegal pursuit of a protected marine mammal.4govinfo. 16 U.S.C. 1376 – Seizure and Forfeiture of Cargo
Narrow exceptions exist for scientific research permits and incidental capture during commercial fishing, but none of them cover recreational or intentional hunting.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 U.S.C. 1371 – Moratorium on Taking and Importing Marine Mammals and Marine Mammal Products
The Endangered Species Act Adds a Second Layer
Many whale species also carry protection under the Endangered Species Act. Numerous cetaceans are classified as endangered or threatened,5Marine Mammal Commission. Endangered Species Act and Other Legislation and Agreements and the North Atlantic right whale has been listed as endangered since 1970.6NOAA Fisheries. North Atlantic Right Whale
The ESA’s penalties are steeper. A knowing violation can result in a civil fine of up to $25,000 per violation, or a criminal fine of up to $50,000, up to a year in prison, or both.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 U.S.C. 1540 – Penalties and Enforcement Charges can run under both the MMPA and the ESA at the same time. A single act of killing a protected whale could expose a person to tens of thousands in fines and overlapping prison exposure.
The Lacey Act Covers Possession and Trade
Someone who never hunted a whale themselves can still break federal law by buying, selling, transporting, or receiving whale parts that were illegally obtained. The Lacey Act makes it illegal to trade in any wildlife taken in violation of federal, state, tribal, or foreign law.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 U.S.C. 3372 – Prohibited Acts This is the statute prosecutors reach for when the defendant handled the product rather than did the killing.
A person who knowingly imports, exports, or sells illegally obtained wildlife faces up to $20,000 in fines and five years in prison. A person who should have known the wildlife was illegally taken faces up to $10,000 in fines and one year in prison, and civil penalties can also reach $10,000 per violation.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 U.S.C. 3373 – Penalties and Sanctions Equipment and vehicles used in the violation are subject to forfeiture.
Found whale bones and inherited scrimshaw raise the same question. Collecting or possessing marine mammal parts is prohibited regardless of how you came by them, with limited exceptions for items taken before the MMPA’s 1972 enactment, which still require a Letter of Determination from NOAA or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for any sale, import, or export.10NOAA Fisheries. Protected Species Parts
Why Utah Has No Whale-Hunting Statute
Utah’s wildlife code, Title 23A, gives the Division of Wildlife Resources authority over “protected wildlife” in the state.11Utah Legislature. Utah Code Title 23A – Wildlife Resources Act In practice the code regulates species that actually live within Utah’s terrestrial and freshwater habitats. The violations chapter lists dozens of specific offenses, and none mention whales or marine mammals.12Utah Legislature. Utah Code Title 23A Chapter 5 Part 3 – Violations
Whales need saltwater ocean ecosystems to survive. The Great Salt Lake, despite its name, is a hypersaline terminal lake with no connection to the ocean and could not support a whale. No whale species has ever inhabited Utah, so the legislature has never set hunting tags, seasons, or management programs for marine mammals. That silence is not a loophole. Federal law covers every state, so a Utah statute would be redundant. Someone in downtown Salt Lake City who harmed a whale would face federal prosecution, not state charges.
The One Narrow Exception Does Not Apply
The only circumstance in which a person can legally hunt a whale in the United States is the Alaska Native subsistence exception under the MMPA, which permits Alaska Natives to harvest marine mammals for subsistence and traditional handicrafts, but only within the State of Alaska.13NOAA Fisheries. Marine Mammal Parts and Products in Alaska Large whale species like bowheads, grays, and humpbacks can only be hunted under specific quotas set by the International Whaling Commission. Non-Natives cannot participate in these hunts in any capacity, not even by operating a boat or handling gear. Tribal membership alone does not qualify someone, and marriage to an Alaska Native confers no hunting rights. The exception has no application to Utah.
The “Weird Law” Myth and the Salt Lake Whale
A persistent internet claim says Utah has a specific state law banning whale hunting, usually appearing on “weird laws” lists next to claims about walking backward after sunset. A review of Utah’s official code turns up no such provision.12Utah Legislature. Utah Code Title 23A Chapter 5 Part 3 – Violations No section of the Wildlife Resources Act, or any other title, addresses whales by name.
The confusion probably comes from the fact that hunting a whale in Utah is genuinely illegal, just not because Utah said so. People compress “federal law bans this everywhere” into “it’s illegal in Utah” without noting which government made the rule. Once a line like that lands on a listicle, it circulates on its own.
Utah does have its own whale-adjacent landmark that keeps the joke running. A 23-foot sculpture of a breaching humpback titled Out of the Blue sits at a roundabout in Salt Lake City’s 9th and 9th neighborhood. Unveiled in 2022, it quickly drew a local following, with residents calling it the “Sacred Whale” and producing merchandise reading “All Hail the Whale.” A massive whale sculpture in the desert pairs well with the equally improbable idea that the state ever needed a statute to ban hunting one.