meeting, Norwegian officials provided additional material on 

 the proposed research program, which was designed to improve 

 understanding of the Barents Sea ecosystem, and indicated 

 that the research program was being further modified to better 

 achieve its objectives. 



On 29 July 1988, the Charge d'Affaires of Norway's Embassy 

 in the United States and the Under Secretary for Oceans and 

 Atmosphere for the U.S. Department of Commerce exchanged 

 letters expressing views on the proposed research program. 

 In his letter, the Norwegian official confirmed that: Norway's 

 scientists were ready to comment fully on observations made 

 during consideration of its research program by the IWC Scien- 

 tific Committee; Norway fully intended to provide detailed 

 and specific information on the manner in which the research 

 is implemented at future meetings of the IWC; and it welcomed 

 continued contacts between U.S. and Norwegian scientists on 

 its North Atlantic minke whale research efforts. 



In his letter, the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmo- 

 sphere noted that the information provided during the meeting 

 gave a clearer understanding of the proposed research activities 

 and that he welcomed Norway's commitment to provide the IWC 

 with further details on its research program as well as the 

 results of the research on an annual basis. He also noted 

 that a preliminary review of the additional information was 

 positive and he would provide a further response as soon as 

 possible. 



Also on 29 July, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 provided a copy of the materials received during the meetings 

 with the Norwegian officials to the Marine Mammal Commission. 

 The Service reguested comments on the proposed activities. 

 By letter of 5 August 1988, the Marine Mammal Commission, in 

 consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, 

 responded to the Service. The Commission noted that the 

 Norwegian scientists had made a good effort to explain the 

 rationale for their research and the role of that research in 

 developing a model to help manage human activities affecting 

 the Barents Sea ecosystem. It also noted, however, that it 

 was not entirely clear that the proposed sample size would be 

 adeguate to satisfy research objectives and it likely would 

 reguire several years of additional sampling to yield meaningful 

 results. 



Notwithstanding these reservations, the Commission also 

 noted that the proposed research was better justified than 

 that put forward recently by other IWC members and that, 

 given the scientific rationale and the small number of whales 

 to be taken, the proposed activities appeared to be a legitimate 

 scientific undertaking that would not reduce the effectiveness 

 of the IWC conservation program. The Commission noted that 



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