Chapter X — Research and Studies Program 



bring resources to bear on priority research and 

 conservation problems. The Council will work under 

 the Russian Government's Ichtaelogical Commission 

 and the International Foundation for Science, Culture, 

 and Economics. The purpose of this contract was to 

 provide funds to assist in the formation of the Council 

 and the development of a two-year work plan. 



Humpback Whale Research Coordination Meeting 

 (Hale Kohola, House of the Whale, 

 Lahaina, Hawaii) 



At least ten researchers or research groups conduct 

 aircraft-, shore-, and boat-based studies of humpback 

 whales that winter in the coastal waters of the Hawai- 

 ian Islands. In 1992 the Commission and the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service jointly sponsored a meeting 

 of the principal investigators to review and coordinate 

 research plans so as to maximize the knowledge 

 acquired while minimizing possible effects on the 

 whales. Among other things, the meeting participants 

 recommended that follow-up workshops be held in the 

 field to standardize data collection techniques used by 

 the different researchers and to further coordinate 

 research efforts. In 1993, 1994, and again in 1995 

 the Commission provided partial funding for meetings 

 to review and coordinate planned research programs 

 and to standardize methods for collecting and record- 

 ing certain data. 



MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS 



Workshop on the Effects and Effectiveness of 

 Acoustic Deterrents 



(Whitlow W.L. Au, Ph.D., Hawaii Institute of 

 Marine Biology, Kailua; Stephen Dawson, Ph.D., 

 University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; 

 William Dolphin, Ph.D., Boston University, Bos- 

 ton, Massachusetts; Thomas A. Jefferson, Ph.D., 

 Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Aberdeen, 

 Hong Kong; Jon Lien, Ph.D., Memorial University 

 of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, 

 Canada; Craig O. Matkin, North Gulf Oceanic 

 Society, Homer, Alaska; Paul E. Nachtigall, Ph.D., 

 Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, Kailua; Ran- 

 dall R. Reeves, Ph.D., Okapi Wildlife Associates, 

 Hudson, Quebec, Canada; Ronald J. Schusterman, 

 Ph.D., Long Marine Laboratory, Santa Cruz, 



California; Bernd Wiirsig, Ph.D., Texas A&M 

 University, Galveston; Battelle Seattle Conference 

 Center, Seattle, Washington; and Lee Talbot 

 Associates International, McLean, Virginia) 



Many species of marine mammals are caught and 

 killed or injured incidental to commercial fishing 

 operations worldwide. Although much time and effort 

 has been invested in testing possible acoustic and 

 other means for preventing such incidental mortality, 

 the results have been questionable. The Marine 

 Mammal Commission and the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service are jointly sponsoring a workshop, 

 to be held in March 1996, to (a) evaluate past efforts 

 to reduce entanglement using sound reflectors and 

 generators, (b) identify critical uncertainties, and (c) 

 describe the studies that would be required to resolve 

 the uncertainties. These contractors are handling the 

 workshop arrangements and preparing background 

 papers on such topics as the hearing capability in and 

 use of sound by various marine mammal species, the 

 relative effectiveness of previous efforts to deter 

 marine mammals using sound, and the possible 

 behavioral effects of acoustic deterrents on marine 

 mammals. The workshop results will be used by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, the fishing indus- 

 try, and others to assess the relative costs and benefits 

 of possible acoustic deterrents and to guide decisions 

 regarding the need for additional experiments. 



Publication and Distribution of the 

 Workshop Report on Scientific Aspects of 

 Managing Whale- Watching 

 (International Fund for Animal Welfare, 

 Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts) 



Whale-watching is a rapidly growing industry 

 throughout the world, with more than four million 

 participants per year in about 50 countries and over- 

 seas territories. Although there are obvious economic 

 benefits to whale- watching, and some whale-watch 

 ventures encourage scientists to use whale-watching 

 vessels as platforms to study whales, in many cases, 

 the activities are completely unregulated. In some 

 countries, whale-watching rules have been established, 

 but there appears to be little scientific basis for and 

 considerable discrepancies between them. With this 

 in mind, 28 scientists from 12 countries met in 

 Montecastello di Vibio, Italy, on 30 March to 4 April 



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