MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
ecosystem.” The Commission also pointed out that 
the legislative history of the Act, the recent Congres- 
sional resolution noted earlier, and continuing public 
interest in issues bearing upon the conservation and 
protection of marine mammals indicate that the 
majority of Congress and the American public oppose 
killing marine mammals for commercial purposes. In 
this regard, the Commission noted that public interest 
in marine mammals is further illustrated by the 
millions of people who go on whale-watching expedi- 
tions and visit public display facilities each year and 
by the volume of letters to the Congress and govern- 
ment officials opposing killing of marine mammals. 
As noted earlier, the Marine Mammal Commission 
also had recommended in its 5 December 1991 letter 
that efforts be undertaken to update the 1946 Whaling 
Convention. This recommendation was based upon a 
determination that, while the Convention no doubt 
reflected current thinking when it was concluded in 
1946, there has been substantial evolution in the basic 
principles and concepts underlying marine living 
resource conservation since then. It now is recog- 
nized, for example, that living resources may have 
non-consumptive as well as consumptive values and 
that individual species and populations affect and are 
affected by one another and other components of the 
ecosystems of which they are a part. It also is recog- 
nized that whale stocks may be affected, both directly 
and indirectly, by a variety of activities in addition to 
commercial exploitation. 
In this context, the 9 June letter indicated that the 
Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 
Scientific Advisors, had carefully reviewed the report 
of the special meeting of the IWC’s Scientific Com- 
mittee held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2-6 March 
1992. The Commission noted that the meeting report 
indicated that substantial progress had been made with 
regard to the Revised Management Procedure and that 
the procedure, as it was evolving, could provide an 
adequate basis for ensuring that commercial whaling 
does not have significant adverse effects on either the 
affected whale stocks or the ecosystems of which they 
are a part. The Commission noted, however, that a 
number of critical uncertainties remain. It is not 
clear, for example, whether the intervals between 
required population surveys and the precision of the 
surveys will be such that the Revised Management 
122 
Procedure will be sensitive to possible ecological 
effects and lead to appropriate management decisions 
if there are significant decreases in habitat or habitat 
carrying capacity, or if the productivity of whale 
stocks is affected by extrinsic factors, such as environ- 
mental pollution. To help resolve these uncertainties, 
the Commission recommended that studies be done to 
determine the sensitivity of the Revised Management 
Procedure to the precision of the input parameters, 
including the precision and frequency of abundance 
estimates. 
As noted earlier, the Commission’s 5 December 
1991 letter also recommended that steps be taken to 
formally recognize the IWC’s competence to regulate 
deliberate catches of small cetaceans as well as large 
cetaceans. Many of the organizations and individuals 
that commented on the Commission’s 5 December 
1991 letter questioned or opposed this recommenda- 
tion. While recognizing that a number of the ex- 
pressed concerns were valid, the Commission pointed 
out in its 9 June 1992 letter that many species and 
populations of small cetaceans are in greater trouble 
than most species and populations of large cetaceans 
and that some species and populations of small ceta- 
ceans are likely to be driven to extinction if remedial 
measures are not taken quickly. 
The Commission also pointed out that the IWC’s 
Scientific Committee is uniquely qualified to review 
and to provide advice on matters affecting the conser- 
vation of both large and small cetaceans. The Com- 
mission expressed the view that, minimally, the IWC 
should be encouraged to continue using its Scientific 
Committee to review and provide advice on all issues 
bearing upon the conservation of both large and small 
cetaceans. The Commission also expressed the view 
that countries with interests in and responsibilities for 
conservation of small cetaceans as well as large 
cetaceans should be encouraged to join the IWC. 
The 1992 Meetings of the 
International Whaling Commission 
and its Scientific Committee 
The 44th annual meeting of the IWC was held in 
Glasgow, Scotland, 29 June-3 July 1992. Working 
groups met on 24-29 June, and the Commission’s 
