conserving marine mammals and their habitat in the Southern 

 Ocean. In 1989, the Commission will continue to work with 

 the Department of State, the National Science Foundation, the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, and other Federal agencies to help 

 implement the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention for the 

 Conservation of Antarctic Seals, the Convention on the 

 Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and the 

 Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource 

 Activities. 



The International Whaling Commission (IWC) 



During 1988, representatives of the Marine Mammal Commis- 

 sion consulted with the U.S. Commissioner to the IWC and 

 others in preparation for the Fortieth Annual Meeting of the 

 IWC and participated in meetings of the IWC and its Scientific 

 Committee. In addition, the Marine Mammal Commission consulted 

 with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 

 State Department, and others on matters related to participation 

 of the United States in the IWC. 



Pre-Meeting Activities 



Certification of Japan — Article VIII of the International 

 Convention for the Regulation of Whaling of 1946 provides 

 that any contracting government may grant a special permit to 

 its citizens to take whales for purposes of scientific research 

 and that any whales taken may be processed and sold according 

 to the directions of the government of that member nation. 

 The IWC's conservation program also provides that contracting 

 governments afford the IWC and its Scientific Committee an 

 opportunity to review the proposed permit and certain infor- 

 mation on the proposed research activities. At the June 1987 

 IWC meeting, the Government of Japan submitted a research 

 proposal to take 825 minke whales and 50 sperm whales from 

 waters around Antarctica. The proposal was reviewed by the 

 Scientific Committee according to criteria developed by the 

 Committee and the IWC. Based on that review, the Committee 

 identified a number of uncertainties regarding the proposed 

 research protocol. In view of the Committee's findings, the 

 IWC adopted a Resolution calling upon the Government of Japan 

 to refrain from issuing the special permit until the uncer- 

 tainties identified by the Scientific Committee were resolved. 



As noted in the previous Annual Report, the Government 

 of Japan responded by developing a revised research proposal 

 involving the take of 300 Southern Hemisphere minke whales in 

 the 1987-1988 whaling season. The revised proposal was sub- 

 mitted to the IWC after its June meeting, and a special meeting 

 of the IWC Scientific Committee was scheduled for 15-17 December 



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