Scientific Committee met the two preceding weeks (9- 
22 June) to consider and provide advice on issues as 
requested by the Commission. The results of these 
meetings are summarized below. 
The Revised Management Procedure — The IWC 
and its Scientific Committee considered a number of 
issues regarding refinement and use of the catch limit 
algorithm adopted in principle in 1991 to calculate 
acceptable catch levels. The issues included the 
possibility of whaling being allowed when stocks are 
significantly below the full protection level (54 
percent of the carrying capacity level) and specifica- 
tion of minimum data requirements and rules for 
setting catch limits. 
Some members of the IWC believed that the basic 
procedure for setting catch limits had been evaluated 
sufficiently and that available abundance and catch 
data were sufficient for some stocks (e.g., the south- 
ern hemisphere and North Atlantic minke whale 
populations) to begin calculating and setting allowable 
catch limits. Others believed that further evaluation 
was necessary to identify minimum data requirements 
and that it would be premature to begin calculating or 
establishing catch limits until agreement had been 
reached on other related matters — e.g., catch report- 
ing and verification (inspection) requirements and 
minimum standards for the precision and frequency of 
population surveys. The IWC adopted a resolution 
recognizing that the Scientific Committee had devel- 
oped and satisfactorily specified a procedure for 
calculating catch limits for baleen whales, but that 
agreement on additional issues would be required 
before resumption of commercial whaling might be 
considered. The full set of agreements, referred to as 
“The Revised Management Scheme,” would require 
(1) agreement on minimum data standards; (2) guide- 
lines for conducting population surveys and analyzing 
the results; (3) a fully effective inspection and obser- 
vation scheme; (4) arrangements to ensure that the 
total catches over time are within the limit set under 
the Revised Management Procedure; and (5) incorpo- 
ration of the draft specification and the other elements 
of the Revised Management Scheme into the IWC’s 
Schedule of Regulations. 
The resolution reaffirmed that commercial whaling 
should be permitted only for populations, areas, and 
123 
Chapter V — International 
seasons for which catch limits have been calculated by 
the Scientific Committee, and that recommendations 
for catch limits should be forwarded to and approved 
by the IWC in conformity with all the provisions of 
the Revised Management Scheme. The resolution also 
indicated that catch limits should not be calculated 
until all aspects of the Revised Management Scheme 
have been elaborated. 
Whale Sanctuaries — In 1979 the International 
Whaling Commission prohibited all forms of commer- 
cial whaling in a region designated as the Indian 
Ocean Sanctuary. This prohibition was scheduled to 
expire on 24 October 1992. Prior to the 1992 IWC 
meeting, the Seychelles proposed that the prohibition 
be extended indefinitely. Japan and others opposed 
such an extension. At its 1992 meeting the IWC 
agreed that the prohibition would be continued but 
would be reviewed again in 2002. 
The IWC also considered a proposal by the Gov- 
ernment of France to designate all the waters of the 
southern hemisphere south of 40° south latitude as a 
sanctuary where commercial whaling would be 
prohibited. A number of technical and legal issues 
were noted during discussion of the proposal. It was 
noted, for example, that the Commission for the 
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources 
and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research 
should be consulted before any action was taken. The 
IWC asked its Scientific Committee to consider and 
provide advice on the scientific merits of the proposal 
for consideration at its 1993 meeting. The IWC also 
asked that the Secretariat invite the Commission for 
the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resourc- 
es, the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research, 
and other organizations to provide comments on scien- 
tific matters raised in the proposal. It agreed to give 
full consideration to the proposal at its 1993 meeting. 
Aboriginal/Subsistence Whaling — The IWC’s 
Schedule of Regulations includes catch limits for 
aboriginal subsistence whaling. During its 1991 
meeting, the IWC took the following actions regarding 
aboriginal/subsistence whaling: 
¢ Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock of bowhead 
whales (taken by Alaska Natives and in 1991 by 
Canadian Natives) — At its 1991 meeting the 
