relating to that stock. Japan filed an objection to this 

 footnote in November 1981 and was therefore relieved of the 

 obligation under the Convention to comply with this 

 provision. In filing its objection, however, Japan 

 indicated that it was conditional in the sense that it 

 would be withdrawn if the special meeting in March or the 

 regular meeting in July resolved the issue to its satisfaction. 



The efforts of the Scientific Committee at its special 

 meeting were devoted to an extensive review of the two 

 assessment techniques -- "length specific" and "age 

 specific" — which gave significantly different results. 

 Most members of the Committee concluded that the former 

 was more reliable and that its performance was superior in 

 the validation studies that were conducted. The Committee 

 did not, however, have sufficient time to interpret the 

 projected trends in stock size derived from the two 

 techniques or formulate management recommendations for 

 consideration by the Commission. 



After considering the Report of its Scientific 

 Committee, the IWC agreed, by consensus, to take no action 

 to amend the existing Schedule provisions relating to this 

 stock and to refer the question to the annual meeting in 

 July for further consideration. The IWC also asked the 

 Scientific Committee to attempt to complete its review of 

 the stock at its regular meeting so as to provide any 

 additional information or advice for consideration. As a 

 result, the ban on killing sperm whales from the western 

 division North Pacific stock in the fall of 1982 and 

 thereafter remained in effect, subject to Japan's objection. 



The July 1982 Meeting 



A total of 37 members participated in the July 1982 

 meeting of the IWC. Eight non-whaling nations (Antigua- 

 Barbuda, Belize, Egypt, Federal Republic of Germany, Kenya, 

 Monaco, Philippines, and Senegal) joined the IWC after the 

 July 1981 meeting while Dominica withdrew from the IWC and 

 was not represented at the 1982 meeting and Jamaica 

 maintained its membership in the IWC but was not represented 

 at the meeting. A summary of the major actions taken at the 

 meeting is set forth below. 



Cessation of commercial whaling — Five proposals for 

 various types of moratoria on commercial whaling were on the 

 agenda as the first substantive item of business — one each 

 submitted by Seychelles, United Kingdom, United States, 



- 23 - 



