reports submitted by the United States on the conduct and 
results of its research program in 1980 as well as other 
relevant information and analyses relating to the Bering Sea 
population of bowhead whales. The Committee noted that the 
IWC quota of 18 landed or 26 struck had already been exceeded 
in the spring hunt, when 15 whales had been landed and 31 
struck, and that the harvest for the year had been closed by 
the United States on 29 May 1980. It noted that the proportion 
of calves seen in 1980 (1.7 percent) was lower than in the 
two previous years (2.5 percent and 3.5 percent) and that 
the results of the simulation model indicated that with the 
moderate or pessimistic values the bowhead whale population 
would decline from 1980 levels, even in the absence of 
catches, and even with the optimistic parameters it would 
increase only slowly. In light of this information, the 
Scientific Committee restated its recommendations made at 
its three previous annual meetings that from a biological 
point of view the only safe course is for the kill of bowhead 
whales from the Bering Sea population to be zero. 
Meeting of the IWC 
The members of the IWC considered the bowhead whale 
issue at their meeting in July 1980 with reference to the 
report and information provided by the United States and the 
report and recommendations of the Scientific Committee. The 
United States indicated that, after weighing all factors, 
firm biological evidence should be paramount and that the 
survival of the bowhead whale population should not be 
risked to satisfy the cultural needs of the Alaskan Eskimos, 
particularly if alternatives were available. The United 
States indicated that it recognized that, based upon the 
available scientific evidence, a sustained harvest of bowhead 
whales at current levels over an extended period of time 
would endanger the population and would jeopardize the 
Eskimos' interests as well. It therefore proposed that the 
IWC treat 1981 as a one-year transition period at the 1980 
quota level, during which the government could cooperate with 
the Eskimos in developing and studying the implications of 
the biological evidence, exploring subsistence alternatives 
so as to facilitate a reduction in kills, and improving 
hunting practices and weapons to increase the efficiency of 
the hunt. This proposal was not accepted by the IWC's 
Technical Committee which adopted by simple majority vote a 
zero catch limit as recommended by the Scientific Committee. 
This proposal failed to receive the necessary three-fourths 
Majority in plenary session (7 in favor, 8 opposed, and 8 
abstentions) and a proposal to set the quota at 8 landed or 
12 struck, whichever comes first, also failed in plenary 
session by a vote of 5 in favor, 9 opposed, and 10 abstentions. 
Se = 
