selected whale stocks and has developed a revised management procedure. Some countries 
now advocate resuming commercial whaling on stocks which they maintain can safely 
sustain such taking. 
The Marine Mammal Commission reviewed issues related to the operation of the 
IWC and, late in 1991, recommended to the U.S. Commissioner to the IWC that no 
consideration be given to lifting the moratorium on commercial whaling until, at a 
minimum, certain specified conditions are met. The Commission also recommended that 
the United States continue to oppose resumption of commercial whaling on the basis of 
previous failures to prevent over-exploitation, failure to consider the non-consumptive, as 
well as the consumptive, values of whales, and the importance of whales as a component 
of marine ecosystems. The Marine Mammal Commission provided further comments to the 
U.S. Commissioner to the IWC in 1992. The IWC continued work in 1992 to complete a 
revised management scheme for regulating commercial whaling, but took no action to lift 
the moratorium. 
High Seas Driftnet Fishing — The unregulated, incidental catch of large numbers 
of many marine species has made large-scale high seas driftnet fishing a matter of great 
international concern. This non-selective fishing technique reaps such a substantial bycatch 
that it threatens not only individual species and populations, but also the fundamental 
structure of pelagic marine ecosystems. To gather data on catch levels and reduce levels 
of incidental take of marine resources of United States origin, Congress directed in 1987 
that driftnet monitoring and enforcement agreements be negotiated with nations engaging 
in driftnet fishing in the North Pacific Ocean. Agreements, designed in part to generate 
Statistically reliable catch data, were negotiated with Japan, Taiwan, and the Republic of 
Korea. As noted in past annual reports, the Commission questioned the adequacy of the 
monitoring programs established under these agreements; it also has advocated banning 
large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing. 
In December 1991, thanks largely to efforts by the State Department and the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United Nations General Assembly 
adopted a Resolution calling for a 50 percent reduction in large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing 
effort by 30 June 1992 and an indefinite cessation of all such fishing after 31 December 
1992. Although the Resolution is non-binding, driftnet fishing nations took steps in 1992 
to comply with its provisions and to suspend large-scale driftnet fishing on the high seas by 
1993. Also in 1992, a member of the Commission’s Committee of Scientific Advisors 
reviewed catch data from the driftnet monitoring programs. The results suggest that 
observer levels in this and certain other fisheries may be too low to estimate incidental catch 
levels with the required degree of accuracy. 
Marine Mammals in the Southern Ocean — More than 13 species of whales and 
seals occur in the seas surrounding Antarctica. Many of these species have been depleted 
by commercial exploitation; they may be further affected, both directly and indirectly, by 
ongoing fisheries development and other activities. The Antarctic Treaty Parties have 
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