MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



Table 2. IWC quotas' and number of bowhead 

 whales taken by Alaska Natives, 

 1973-1998 



' Cited quotas established by the International Whaling Com- 

 mission; data on numbers of whales landed, struck but not 

 landed, and total struck are from R. S. Suydam, R. P. 

 Angliss, J. C. George, S. R. Braund, and D. P. DeMaster. 

 1995. Revised data on the subsistence harvest of bowhead 

 whales (Balaena mys!icetus)by Alaska Eskimos, 1973-1993. 

 Forty-fifth report of the International Whaling Commission 

 45:335-338. Information for the years 1994, 1995, 1996, 

 1997, and 1998 was provided by the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service. 



^ Whaling is to cease whenever the number of whales landed 

 or the number of strikes made reaches the specified number, 

 whichever comes first. 



Under the Pelly Amendment to the Fisherman's 

 Protective Act, the Secretary of Commerce is required 



to formally notify the President of actions by a nation 

 that diminish the effectiveness of any international 

 fishery conservation program. The President is autho- 

 rized, but is not required, to restrict the importation 

 offish or any other products from nations so certified. 

 He is required to notify Congress within 60 days of 

 actions taken in response to certification. 



The FWC's conservation program is considered a 

 fishery conservation program for purposes of the Pelly 

 Amendment. As noted in previous annual reports, the 

 Marine Mammal Commission recommended in 1991 

 that the Secretary of Commerce certify to the Presi- 

 dent that Canada's authorization to take bowhead 

 whales without consultation with and concurrence by 

 the IWC was diminishing the effectiveness of the 

 IWC's conservation program. The Secretary of 

 Commerce refrained from certifying Canada in 1991 

 because the Canadian ambassador indicated that a 

 review was under way to decide whether Canada 

 should rejoin the IWC. Canada subsequently decided 

 not to rejoin the FWC, but continued to issue licenses 

 allowing its Natives to take bowhead whales. At its 

 June 1996 meeting, the IWC adopted a resolution 

 calling on Canada to rejoin the IWC or to refrain 

 from issuing licenses authorizing its Natives to take 

 bowhead whales without obtaining IWC concurrence. 



Despite the IWC's stated concerns, Canada issued 

 two licenses in 1996 under which two bowhead 

 whales were taken: one from the Bering-Chukchi- 

 Beaufort Seas stock and the other from the highly en- 

 dangered eastern Canadian stock. As noted in previ- 

 ous Commission reports, the Secretary of Commerce 

 certified to the President on 12 December 1996 that 

 Canada's actions were diminishing the effectiveness of 

 the IWC's conservation program. On 10 February 

 1997 the President advised Congress that actions 

 against Canada were warranted to bring about compli- 

 ance with the IWC's conservation program. Toward 

 this end, he instructed the Department of State to 

 oppose Canadian efforts to address issues on the 

 hunting and trade of marine mammals within the 

 Arctic Council (see Chapter IV). The President also 

 advised Congress that he had instructed the Secretary 

 of Commerce to withhold consideration of any Cana- 

 dian request for waiver of the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act's moratorium on importing seals or 

 seal products into the United States. These actions 



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