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recommended that, if the Commission decided to set a 

 1984 catch limit, it should be less than 22 strikes. 

 After lengthy discussion, the IWC adopted a block quota for 

 1984 and 1985 of 43 strikes, with no more than 27 to be made 

 in any one year. Under the Cooperative Agreement mentioned 

 above, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission will allocate 

 these strikes among the whaling villages. The quota is to 

 be reviewed by the IWC at its 1984 meeting. 



Research Coordination and Planning 



When the IWC withdrew its total ban on the taking of 

 bowhead whales for subsistence purposes in December 1977, it 

 did so in part because of the U.S. Commissioner's pledge 

 that the United States would undertake a comprehensive 

 research program on the issue. Responsibility for planning 

 and implementing the program was assigned to the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service's National Marine Mammal Laboratory. 

 The Commission's role in developing the program is described 

 in its Annual Reports on Calendar Years 1977 and 1978. 



In 1978, the Bureau of Land Management (now the Minerals 

 Management Service) initiated studies to determine how 

 bowhead whales might be impacted by oil and gas development 

 in the Beaufort Sea. Several elements of the program appeared 

 to duplicate the research already being conducted or planned 

 by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Therefore, as 

 described in previous Annual Reports, the Commission sponsored a 

 series of meetings which resulted in coordination and elimination 

 of duplicate parts of the research programs being carried out 

 by the two agencies. In 1982, the National Marine Mammal 

 Laboratory assumed responsibility for organizing and convening 

 these coordination meetings. 



The first coordination meeting convened by the Laboratory 

 was held in March 1982 and included representatives of the 

 North Slope Borough, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, 

 the Minerals Management Service, and the oil and gas industry, 

 as well as the Commission and the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service. During the meeting, participants agreed that 

 additional research was needed to: 1) provide a more reliable 

 estimate of annual recruitment; 2) evaluate possible sources 

 of bias in census data; and 3) provide better information on 

 distribution and movement patterns, particularly in and near 

 OCS lease sale areas in the Beaufort Sea. In order to 

 obtain a more reliable estimate of annual recruitment, 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service, following the 

 meeting, obtained funding for additional surveys. 



