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exempt from the listing the West Greenland population 

 of minke whales which are taken for non-commercial 

 subsistence purposes by Greenlanders. The United States 

 joined with a majority of the other Parties at the 

 meeting in acknowledging that there were circumstances 

 justifying these listings of whales as a special case 

 and both proposals were adopted. Several Parties did not 

 support the proposals, however, and by 2 9 July 198 3 had 

 filed reservations to the listings of cetaceans on 

 Appendix I as follows: Japan and Norway filed reservations 

 to the listing of sperm whales; Austria, Brazil, Japan, 

 Norway, Peru, and the U.S.S.R. filed reservations to the 

 listing of minke whales which will become effective 

 1 January 1986; Austria, Brazil, and Peru filed reservations 

 to the listing of pygmy right whales which will become 

 effective 1 January 1986; Austria and the U.S.S.R. filed a 

 reservation to the listing of all species of beaked whales, 

 Japan filed a reservation to the listing of Baird's beaked 

 whales, and Austria and the U.S.S.R. filed a reservation to 

 the listing of all species of bottlenose whales; Japan filed 

 a reservation to the listing of some populations of sei 

 whales, while the U.S.S.R. filed a reservation to the listing 

 of other populations of sei whales; Austria, Brazil, Japan, 

 Peru, and the U.S.S.R. filed reservations to the listing of 

 Bryde's whales; and Japan filed a reservation to the listing 

 o£ all populations of fin whales, while the U.S.S.R. filed a 

 reservation to the listing of some populations and Norway 

 filed a reservation to the listing of other populations of 

 fin whales. 



A second marine mammal issue involved a proposal by the 

 Federal Republic of Germany to add all 13 as yet unlisted 

 species of earless seals (family Phocidae) , including the 

 harp and hooded seals harvested by Canada, to Appendix II. 

 This proposal was among the most extensively debated issues 

 at the meeting due, in part, to a concern by Canada that it 

 constituted a challenge to the adequacy of its management of 

 the harp and hooded seal harvests and that it would result 

 in giving seal pelts from Greenland free access to the 

 European market while cutting off the Canadian seal pelt 

 trade. The delegation of Sweden proposed that each of the 

 13 seal species be considered individually on its merits 

 because one or more populations or species might not satisfy 

 the criteria for listing, but this approach was opposed by a 

 majority of the Parties which favored consideration and listing 

 of the whole family as a unit. A vote by secret ballot was 

 therefore taken on the proposal to list the entire family of 

 Phocidae on Appendix II and the proposal was rejected by the 

 Parties. 



