MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



Table 7. Quotas and Number of Bowhead Whales Taken by Alaska Eskimos, 1973 - 1991' 



Cited quotas provided by the International Whaling Commission, Cambridge, England; data on the number of whales taken provided 



by the National Marine Fisheries Service. 



In establishing quotas for both landings and strikes, the International Whaling Commission stipulated that whaling should cease 



whenever the number of whales landed or the number of strikes reached the specified number, whichever came first. 



For the years 1984 through 1988, quotas were set for strikes only. 



activities, particularly the short-term response of 

 bowhead whales to noise associated with resource 

 development, the potential long-term effects on the 

 whales and their habitat remain uncertain. The 

 Scientific Committee, therefore, recommended that 

 "[RJegulatory agencies in the USA should expand 

 efforts to monitor the status of the Bering-Chukchi- 

 Beaufort Seas stock of bowhead whales to detect 

 possible adverse effects of industrial /petroleum 

 activities." 



Research Planning and Coordination 



The Marine Mammal Conmiission has played a 

 major role in planning and coordinating bowhead 

 whale research. Following the June 1977 meeting of 

 the International Whaling Commission mentioned 

 earlier, the Marine Mammal Commission recommend- 

 ed that the National Marine Fisheries Service expand 

 its bowhead whale research program. As noted in 

 previous Annual Reports, the research plan subse- 



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