Chapter III — Species of Special Concern 
a study to evaluate possible actions to avoid and 
mitigate threats to whales and their habitats in Hawaii 
waters (see Appendix B, Townsend 1991). Among 
other points, the report noted that an increasing 
number of research groups was conducting similar 
types of studies, some of which could be duplicative 
and result in unnecessary disturbance of the whales. 
With regard to this point, the report recommended 
that annual research coordination meetings be con- 
vened by the National Marine Fisheries Service. 
The Commission provided the report to the Nation- 
al Marine Fisheries Service on 16 September 1991. 
In its transmittal letter, the Commission recommended 
that, when the Humpback Whale Recovery Plan was 
completed, the Service develop area-specific imple- 
mentation plans, and that the plan for Hawaii include 
measures to address issues related to the effect of 
humpback whale research and its contribution to 
species recovery needs. The Service shared the 
Commission’s concerns, and subsequently the Service 
and the Commission jointly planned and supported a 
research coordination workshop. 
The meeting was organized by the Pacific area 
office of the National Marine Fisheries Service and 
hosted by the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College 
Program and Hale Kohola/Whaler’s Village. It was 
held in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, on 23-24 January 
1992. Objectives of the meeting included identifying 
future research plans so as to ensure that both re- 
searchers and the Service were fully aware of what 
was being planned; identifying possible harmful 
research practices and ways to avoid harmful effects; 
ensuring that planned studies address critical research 
needs consistent with the provisions of the Humpback 
Whale Recovery Plan; identifying and avoiding 
unnecessarily duplicative studies; and reviewing the 
research permit process and permit provisions. 
Participants included members of all of the research 
groups with active research permits to study hump- 
back whales in Hawaii and representatives of the 
Service’s permit and enforcement branches. 
Although the Service has held annual meetings with 
research permit holders to review study plans and 
permit conditions for the past seven or eight years, 
these meetings have been limited to individuals or 
small groups. The January 1992 workshop was the 
59 
first time that all groups actively conducting research 
in Hawaii were able to meet together in such a 
structured setting. Both the researchers and the 
managers responsible for overseeing research permits 
found the workshop to be an effective and valuable 
opportunity to discuss issues of mutual concern, to 
share information on recent findings and study plans, 
and to constructively assess ways to better coordinate 
and carry out research activities. 
During the meeting the Service reviewed the 
permit process and clarified current permit require- 
ments, including stipulations for limiting permits to 
bona fide research that is not unnecessarily duplica- 
tive, recording and reporting data on approaches to 
whales, flying flags to indicate vessels engaged in 
authorized research, and notifying the Service as to 
the dates and locations of research activities. Re- 
searchers reviewed recent study findings and research 
plans and discussed ways to improve cooperation and 
data sharing. 
There was agreement that similar workshops 
should be held annually. Also, it was recommended 
that the next workshop should be a two- or three-day 
field workshop during which participants would spend 
time on boats comparing and sharing field techniques 
used to approach and study whales. By doing so, it 
is hoped that a common understanding could be 
developed on how to approach and maneuver research 
vessels in the presence of whales in the least disrup- 
tive manner. It would also allow researchers and 
managers to share the best aspects of their various 
research techniques, help standardize procedures used 
by different researchers to collect photographs and 
other types of data, and provide researchers with 
greater confidence in the data recorded by others. 
As of the end of 1992, a meeting site and other 
support for such a workshop had been donated, but it 
was not clear whether the Service would be able to 
provide the funding necessary for the remaining logis- 
tics costs. 
Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National 
Marine Sanctuary — Because of the importance of 
waters off Hawaii for humpback whales, consideration 
has been given to designating a national marine 
sanctuary in the Islands for humpback whales under 
