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Marine Mammal Commission convened the first of a series of 

 meetings to coordinate bowhead research among the Minerals 

 Management Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 and other entities. Detailed discussions of these and other 

 Commission activities as well as a historical summary of the 

 bowhead whale issue are presented in past Annual Reports. 



Eskimo Whaling During 1983 



In order to provide Eskimos with substantial opportunity 

 and responsibility for regulation, monitoring, and enforcement 

 of the bowhead whale hunt, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration, on behalf of the Government, and the Alaska 

 Eskimo Whaling Commission signed a Cooperative Agreement in 

 1981 recognizing each party's responsibility for whaling 

 management. Under the IWC's three-year bowhead whale quota 

 adopted in 1981, a total of 18 strikes remained available to 

 Eskimo whalers in 1983. Pursuant to the terms of the Cooperative 

 Agreement, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission allocated 

 these strikes among the nine whaling villages and monitored 

 the hunt for compliance with regulations. At the end of the 

 1983 spring hunt, eight bowhead whales had been landed and 

 another eight had been struck and lost for a total of 16 

 strikes. During the fall hunt, one whale was landed and an 

 additional whale was struck and lost for a total of nine 

 whales landed and 18 struck. At that point, the Eskimos 

 stopped whaling and thus limited the 1983 total of 18 strikes 

 to the level established by the IWC. The total of nine 

 whales landed also met the IWC specification that no more 

 than 17 bowhead whales be landed during any one year. For 

 the 1981, 1982, and 1983 hunts, Eskimo whalers struck 65 

 whales and landed 34. This was within the IWC block quota 

 of 65 strikes and 45 landings, whichever came first, for the 

 period. 



Consideration by the International 

 Whaling Commission During 1983 



At its annual meeting in July 1983, the IWC set a 1984 

 bowhead whale catch limit consistent with the aboriginal 

 subsistence whaling management scheme adopted at its 1982 

 meeting. The U.S. Delegation to the IWC meeting presented a 

 detailed quantitative analysis of the U.S. Eskimo bowhead 

 needs for 1984, and proposed a quota of 35 strikes. 

 The IWC workshop group charged with advising the IWC on 

 aboriginal take was not able, however, to establish quantitative 

 needs for any subsistence whaling operation including the 

 U.S. bowhead harvest. Furthermore, the IWC Scientific 

 Committee, unable to agree on a net recruitment estimate, 



