The IWC prohibited hunting in the Southern Hemisphere in 1976. The Soviet Union engaged in the illegal killing of protected whale species in the North Pacific and Southern Hemisphere, over-reporting fin whale catches to cover up illegal takes of other species. In the North Pacific, they reported taking over 10,000 fin whales between 1961 and 1979, while the true catch was less than 9,000. In the Southern Hemisphere, they reported taking nearly 53,000 between 1948 and 1973, when the true total was a little over 41,000. The fin whale was given full protection from commercial whaling by the IWC in the North Pacific in 1976, and in the North Atlantic in 1987, with small exceptions for aboriginal catches and catches for research purposes. All populations worldwide remain listed as endangered species by the US National Marine Fisheries Service and the International Conservation Union Red List. The fin whale is on Appendix 1 of CITES.