MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



niques, and acceptable levels of precision necessary to 

 implement the recommended revised management 

 procedure. To speed its work, the IWC asked its 

 Scientific Committee to convene an intercessional 

 workshop and special meeting to consider the IWC's 

 recommendations. The intercessional workshop is 

 scheduled for 24-28 February 1992 and the special 

 meeting of the Scientific Committee for 2-6 March in 

 Copenhagen. 



Aboriginal/Subsistence Whaling — During its 

 1991 meeting, the IWC adopted the following aborigi- 

 nal subsistence catch limits: 



• Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock of bowhead 

 whales (taken by Alaska Eskimos) — 141 total 

 strikes for the years 1992, 1993, and 1994 witii no 

 more than 54 whales struck and no more than 41 

 landed in any one year, and a maximum of 13 

 unused strikes that may be carried over from the 

 period 1989 to 1991; 



• Eastern North Pacific gray whales (taken by Soviet 

 Eskimos) — 179 whales for each of the years 1992, 

 1993, and 1994; 



• West Greenland fin whales (taken by Greenland) — 

 21 whales for 1992; and 



• West Greenland minke whales (taken by Green- 

 land) — 315 total strikes for the years 1992, 1993, 

 and 1994 with no more than 115 whales struck in 

 any one year. 



No changes were made in catch limits for other 

 aboriginal subsistence whaling adopted at previous 

 meetings. They remained as follows: 



• East Greenland minke whales (taken by Greenland) 

 — 12 whales for the years 1990, 1991, and 1992; 

 and 



• Humpback whales (taken by St. Vincent and the 

 Grenadines) — 3 whales for the 1990/1991 and 

 1992/1993 seasons. 



Special Permits for Scientinc Research Whaling 



— The IWC conservation program allows member 

 nations to issue special permits to take whales for 



scientific purposes, provided that the IWC and its 

 Scientific Committee have an opportunity to review 

 and comment on the research proposals. Since 1985, 

 the rWC has adopted resolutions setting forth research 

 criteria and guidelines governing its review of such 

 proposals. Acting on advice from its Scientific 

 Committee, the IWC has also adopted non-binding 

 resolutions calling upon member nations to refrain 

 from issuing or to reconsider proposed special permits 

 that do not fiiUy satisfy the FWC research criteria and 

 guidelines. 



At its 1991 meeting, the Scientific Committee 

 considered research proposals from the Soviet Union 

 to take 90 minke whales in the Okhotsk Sea and from 

 Japan to take up to 330 Antarctic minke whales. As 

 mentioned above, during its 1991 assessment of 

 western North Pacific minke whales, the Scientific 

 Committee commented on the uncertainties concerning 

 the number and discreteness of minke whale stocks in 

 the Okhotsk Sea and noted that, without better infor- 

 mation, it was not possible to assess the effects of the 

 proposed Soviet catch. In addition, the Scientific 

 Committee noted that the Soviet proposal provided 

 insufficient information to assess either the program's 

 objectives, methodology, and minimum sampling 

 needs for the coming and subsequent field seasons, or 

 the degree to which non-lethal techniques could be 

 used as alternatives to killing whales. In view of the 

 Scientific Committee's comments, the IWC adopted a 

 resolution requesting the Soviet Union to refrain from 

 issuing a permit for the proposed catch. 



With respect to the Japanese proposal, the Scientif- 

 ic Committee noted that the proposed research was 

 essentially a continuation of the program that it had 

 reviewed extensively during previous meetings. 

 Therefore, the IWC again adopted a resolution invit- 

 ing Japan to reconsider its research whaling program. 



Small Cetaceans — Because the Whaling Conven- 

 tion itself neither lists nor defines the species it was 

 created to manage, there has been extensive debate 

 over the IWC's competence to regulate catches of 

 small cetaceans, particularly as such regulation would 

 relate to the rights of coastal states to regulate small 

 cetacean catches within their respective Exclusive 

 Economic Zones. Despite a lack of consensus on this 

 issue, the IWC adopted a resolution in 1980 that: 



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