MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



To these ends, the Marine Mammal Commission 

 urged the U.S. Commissioner to the IWC to under- 

 take discussions with other Conunissioners to foster 

 broad support for these concepts. It also urged that 

 he work with Congress to determine under what 

 conditions, if any, the United States would or would 

 not oppose a resumption of commercial whaling. To 

 begin this process, the Commission recommended 

 that, by February 1992, the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration chair an interagency 

 working group to review these issues and develop for 

 presentation at the 1992 IWC meeting background 

 documents and a proposal for revising the IWC 

 conservation program. Until such time as the Whal- 

 ing Convention is amended to take account of the 

 above points, the Marine Mammal Commission 

 recommended that the United States position should be 

 to continue to oppose any resumption of commercial 

 whaling. 



With regard to other issues facing the IWC, the 

 Marine Mammal Commission also recommended that 

 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 



• convene a working group of U.S. experts to 

 develop terms of reference for monitoring, 

 reporting, verifying, enforcing, and carrying 

 out research programs necessary to implement 

 the IWC's revised management procedure; 



• convene a group of scientists with expertise in 

 population assessment to identify data needed to 

 complete comprehensive assessments of priority 

 stocks, including small cetaceans, and to pre- 

 pare scientific background papers identifying 

 minimum data requirements and minimum 

 levels of precision necessary for comprehensive 

 assessments; 



• investigate the circumstances surrounding the 

 issuing of a license by the Canadian Govern- 

 ment for the take of a bowhead whale from the 

 Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock and, if 

 appropriate, certify the Government of Canada 

 under the Pelly Amendment for diminishing the 

 effectiveness of the IWC conservation program 

 (see Chapter II); 



• develop and implement a bowhead whale recov- 

 ery plan that takes into account long-term 

 monitormg and management needs relative lo 

 subsistence takes and the effects of oil and gas 

 resource development on the arctic marine 

 habitat, and undertake or cause to be undertaken 

 the research called for by the IWC to monitor 

 the status of the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas 

 bowhead stock and the effect of the subsistence 

 take thereon; 



• develop and propose revisions to the Interna- 

 tional Whaling Convention and to the IWC 

 Schedule of Regulations that would formally 

 establish the IWC's competence to regulate 

 directed catches of all cetaceans; and 



• in addition to considering certifications and 

 trade sanctions under U.S. law to persuade 

 member nations to comply with IWC resolu- 

 tions on special permits to kill whales for 

 research purposes, undertake or cause to be 

 undertaken multi-lateral discussions and negotia- 

 tions aimed at persuading offending nations of 

 the value of complying with the IWC program. 



On 13 December 1991, the U.S. Commissioner to 

 the IWC met with U.S. agency representatives to 

 discuss preparations for the 1992 IWC meeting and 

 the recommendations contained in the Marine Mam- 

 mal Commission's 5 December 1991 letter. The 

 group agreed that a working group of agency scien- 

 tists should be set up to review and recommend 

 actions to: (1) identify data needs for the comprehen- 

 sive assessment of whale stocks by the IWC, (2) 

 develop guidelines for incorporating "modem princi- 

 ples of living resource utilization" into the 1946 

 Whaling Convention, and (3) carry out recommended 

 bowhead whale research. With regard to policy- 

 related issues, they agreed that a task force should be 

 convened and chaired by the U.S. IWC Commissioner 

 to review and formulate recommendations for U.S. 

 policy on: (1) revising the 1946 Whaling Convention; 

 (2) monitoring, reporting, verifying, and enforcing the 

 rWC conservation program; (3) incorporating the 

 revised management procedure and necessary related 

 programs into the IWC Schedule; (4) encouraging 

 continued participation of all member nations in the 

 IWC; and (5) identifying U.S. options relative to 



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