12. SCIENTIFIC PERMITS

(from "Chair's Report of the 54th Annual Meeting")


12.1 Report of the Scientific Committee24
12.1.1 General issues
The Committee is investigating ways to improve its procedures for the review of scientific permit results and proposals. This year, results and proposals were first discussed by a working group. This proved to be successful and the Committee has now established a Standing Working Group. The Committee will review the current Commission guidelines that have been developed over many years25. It may put forward a streamlined proposal for revised guidelines to be considered by the Commission next year.


12.1.2 Review results from existing permits
JAPAN: SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE (JARPA)
The Committee received a number of reports of work undertaken as part of the recent field season of JARPA as well as documents using some or all of the JARPA data collected thus far. These were considered where relevant to the main Scientific Committee agenda.


JAPAN: NORTH PACIFIC (JARPNII)
The Committee reviewed the results of the two-year feasibility study for the JARPNII programme. Its aim had been primarily to evaluate the practicability and performance of concurrent whale and prey surveys for feeding ecology studies in Japan's richest fishing grounds (an area off the coast of Tohoku and southern Hokkaido). A total of 140 minke, 93 Bryde's and 13 sperm whales were sampled. In addition, the programme was intended to produce information on stock structure and the monitoring of pollutants in whales and their prey. A number of questions and comments were made by the Scientific Committee but most of these are reflected in the discussion of the proposal for a new permit given below.


12.1.3 Review of new or revised proposals
JAPAN: SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
The Committee briefly discussed the JARPA proposal. This is a continuation (14th year) of a 16-year programme. Progress had been fully reviewed in 199726. It was noted that it was important to reduce any spatio-temporal overlap between the JARPA programme and the IWC SOWER cruise, both of which were scheduled to operate in Area V and the Ross Sea in 2002/2003.


JAPAN: NORTH PACIFIC
Most of the discussion centred on reviewing the results of the two-year JARPN II feasibility study and the proposal for a further permit that involves taking 150 common minke whales, 50 Bryde's whales, 50 sei whales and 10 sperm whales each year for an unspecified period. The stated goal was to obtain information to contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources in the western North Pacific. It includes sub-projects on: feeding ecology and ecosystems; monitoring of environmental pollutants in cetaceans and the marine ecosystem; further elucidation of stock structure. There was considerable disagreement within the Committee over most aspects of this research programme, including objectives, methodology, sample sizes, likelihood of success, effect on stocks and the amount and quality of data that could be obtained using non-lethal research techniques.


12.2 Commission discussions and action arising
Before the Commission's discussion, Japan presented a summary of their proposal including results from their feasibility study. There were no comments on the report of the Scientific Committee or on Japan's presentation. The Commission noted and accepted the Scientific Committee report and its recommendations. A number of draft Resolutions had been submitted in relation to this agenda item, but the Commission did not have time to discuss them.


24 For details of the Scientific Committee's deliberation on this Item see J. Cetacean Res. Manage. 5 (Suppl.).
25 J. Cetacean Res. Manage. 3 (Suppl.): 371-2.
26 See Rep. Int. Whal. Commn. 48: 95-105.

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