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scientists in this matter. Further, it should be the responsibility of those exploit- 

 ing the resource to provde the statistical and o ther information regarding 

 their operations which the scientists require to make their assessments. 



Although scientific efforts in tlie past have been invaluable, they have been 

 limited both in species and in geographical areas. For example, information on 

 the abundance and distribution of all whale stocks in the Indian, South Atlantic, 

 and South Pacific Oceans, and their relationships with other stocks, particularly 

 the Antarctic stocks, is almost totally lacking. In the case of small whales in all 

 oceans, it is almost absent. 



Thus, we emphasize the need for a quantum jump in research personnel and 

 facilities for research on a far broader front to elucidate the unknown potential 

 of this important marine mammal research. 



4. Research Needs. — Because of the importance of studying whales that are 

 not exploited (either due to protection or to lack of an industry), it was thought 

 to be of prime importance that techniques be developed which would produce 

 useful information from live, free-ranging whales. The objectives of research, in 

 relation to management, should be to produce the following information : 



(a) The identity of individual stocks, their location, movement, and possible 

 mixing. 



(&) The number of animals being caught. 



(c) The number of animals in the stock, both catch and stock being broken 

 down by age, sex, and size. 



(d) The relation between the number of mature animals and the number of 

 young produced per unit time which survive to recruit to the fishery, and the 

 density dependent changes in this relationship. 



For (b) as regards the large whales, good information is available, mainly 

 due to the activities of the Bureau of International Whaling Statistics. However, 

 the meeting believes that (1) the introduction of an international obsen^er scheme 

 would add greatly to the reliance that can be placed on their data. Without the 

 scheme, fears of incorrect reporting undermine the confidence that can be placed 

 on the scientific asses.sments. (2) Similar data on number.s and sizes caught 

 should be collected under a suitable international arrangement for all small ceta- 

 ceans. Stock identity has, in the past. l)een studied mainly by traditional mark- 

 ing techniques, which are slow and often inconclusive. A number of new tech- 

 niques offer good promise and should be investigated and used where possible. 

 These include: (I) attached telemetering devices for following by ships, planes, 

 satellites, etc.. and (II) biooliemical methods — these are now being used for sperm 

 whales, but should be tried for other species. One of the principal needs would 

 seem to be a tag that could be read \A-ithout killing the animal. 



Age data are available for most stocks of the large species and collection should 

 be started for those stocks or catches for which data are not yet available. Some 

 doubt still surrounds the precise interpretation of earplugs. New techniques 

 should be tried, such as tags that will mark the animal's bones, teeth, or eye 

 lens. Direct catch-per-unit-effort data need careful checking. Possible changes in 

 the ship's equipment or tactics used by whalers should be examined to see whether 

 the efl3<?iency is likely to have changed. Sighting techniques should he improved 

 and they should be used systematically. Observations on the changes, if any, in 

 the abundance of the presently protected whales (blue, right, gray, bowhead, and 

 humpback) by sightings or observations are needed. Other techniques which 

 yield estimates of stock abundance, either of the whole stock or in a particular 

 area, and which deserve further examination, include : 



(a) Aerial and satellite tracking and surveys. 



( b ) Radio and sonic tagging, including transponders. 



(c) Listening by means of hydrophone arrays. 



Estimates of stock sizes and sustainable yields are now being made by more 

 refined and a greater variety of methods. As a result, scientists are more con- 

 fident of their conclusions. Nevertheless, there are sometimes divergent estimates, 

 and we also cannot yet assign useful limits of error to any estimates. 



International regulations tend to be based on mid-range estimates and we 

 cannot at this time suggest a better ix)licy. It is essential, however, that some 

 calculation be made of the likely consequences of acting upon mid-range or other 

 estimates if the true values are less or more favorable. 



Effective studies of cetaceans will be costly and must usually be on a scale 

 requiring international cooperation. There are some marine mammal research 

 projects under the International Biological Program, and a coordinated study 

 of the exploitable biological production of Antarctic circumpolar waters is being 



