(from "Chairman's Report of the Seventeenth Meeting")

The following representatives were in attendance:

CANADA		W.M. Sprules (Commissioner) K. R. Allen K.F. Fraser G.C. Pike
JAPAN		I. Fujita (Commissioner) T. Doi J. Inagawa H. Omura K. Furukawa A. Ishida S. Osumi K. Hamanaka T. Nemoto J. Ozoegawa H. Hasegawa T. Oba R. Suzuki K. Hoketsu T. Ogiwara S. Takeda
U.S.S.R.		M.N. Sukhoruchenko (Commissioner) M.V. Ivashin V.G. Lafitsky V.P. Zolotarev
U.S.A.		J.L. McHugh (Deputy Commissioner) E.L. Bartlett D.G. Chapman W.C. Herrington D.W. Rice

After very serious deliberation it was found that there were large areas of agreement but the differences which remained prevented the adoption of any recommendations to the International Whaling Commission.

It was agreed that additional stock assessments should be completed by the scientists as soon as possible and that a meeting of the Commissioners of the North Pacific Member Nations should be held one week prior to the 18th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission to give further consideration to North Pacific whaling problems.^*

Each delegation presented its views in written form, as follows:

* Chairman's note: It was suggested that the North Pacific Working Group of Scientists might meet in London about June 16, 1966, and the North Pacific Commissioners on June 20.

"After giving careful consideration to the Report of the Sixth Meeting of the North Pacific Working Group of the International Whaling Commission, the Canadian Delegation is prepared to accept the recommendations contained in the report without qualification. The Canadian Delegation is prepared also to discuss any proposals made by the other Delegations."

"1. The report on the sixth meeting of the North Pacific Working Group should be given due consideration and be treated as the basis for discussion of the Commissioner's meeting of the four countries.

"2. In taking the above-mentioned report into consideration, Japan wishes to state as follows:

"a.

Humpback Whales
Japan has no objection to the prohibition of the taking of humpback whales for one more year.

"b.

Blue Whales
Japan has no objection to the views that no change should be made in the present 5-year closure on blue whales.

"c.

Fin and Sei Whales
The whale stocks question in the North Pacific has become serious as the result of enormous increase of catches by pelagic operations during recent years. Giving due respect to the recommendations of the scientists for an early adoption of restrictive measures for pelagic operations, we believe that restrictive measures for the catch of baleen whales by pelagic operations be promptly taken as a matter of urgency. A ceiling should be placed on pelagic catch of fin and sei whales from 1966 season. It is also considered appropriate to place a combined total catch limit of fin and sei whales in the form of B.W.U., as adopted in the case of the Antarctic. For the conservation of baleen whale stocks in the pelagic grounds, this total catch limit should be reduced gradually in coming seasons until it will be below the combined sustainable yields of fin and sei whales in 1968.

"d.

Open Season
No provision has yet been made in the International Whaling Convention regarding the open season of pelagic operation of baleen whales in the North Pacific. However, as a measure for the conservation of whale stocks a reasonably fixed open season should be maintained.

"e.

Implementation of regulations
A new system for securing the above-mentioned regulations should be introduced so that the countries concerned may comply with them.

"f.

Land Stations
Japan agrees to the views of the scientists that further assessments are urgently needed on coastal stocks on both sides of the Pacific and is prepared to cooperate in this field. As a temporary measure until a precise assessment of coastal stocks will be made, Japan wishes to propose that the Governments concerned restrict, through their domestic measures, the catch of baleen whales from their land stations at an average level of three years from 1962 to 1964, in case an agreement is reached at this meeting concerning the regulation of the catches of baleen whales by pelagic operation.

"g.

Sperm Whales
The scientists' views on sperm whales contained in the above-mentioned report should be given due consideration."

"1. The discussion on the matter of whale stocks reservation* in the North Pacific should be based on the scientific data and recommendations concerning the catches from the land stations and on more precise data concerning the pelagic whaling.

"2. The achievement of any regulations leading to the effective and efficient protection of whale stocks is possible only on the condition that these regulations should apply both to pelagic and coastal catches.

"3. The Soviet delegation states also that:

"a.

It completely agrees to the prohibition of the taking of humpback whales for one more year.

"b.

It supports the resolution of the Commission forbidding the taking of blue whales in the North Pacific for five years from the 1966 season.

"c.

In order to prevent the depletion of baleen whale stocks in the North Pacific the Soviet Union has unilaterally sharply reduced the catches of baleen whales in the last three years. This can be illustrated by the following figures:

Year		Catches of baleen whales (in B.W.U.)
1963		1911
1964		1567
1965		1030

"d.

The Soviet delegation agrees to the recommendation of the Scientific Working Group concerning the necessity of reduction of fin whale catches beginning with the 1966 season.

"e.

The Soviet delegation has no objection to the opinion of the Scientific Working Group that the catches of sei whales in 1966 should not rise above the level of 1965.

"f.

Taking into account the great importance of catches of baleen whales in the North Pacific from the land stations where in 1965 1,066 sei whales were taken, or 33.8 per cent of the total catch of sei whales in 1965 (3,154), the Soviet delegation points out that the proposed measures on the restriction of baleen whale catches in the pelagic whaling grounds should apply adequately also to the land stations and that this is the only way in reaching efficient results in the matter of conservation of whale stocks.

"Due to the fact that the Sixth Meeting of the Scientific Working Group had no opportunity to make the stock assessment of whales in the coastal areas off Asia and taking into consideration the views of the Commissioners for some countries, the Soviet delegation suggests a compromising proposal which consists in fixing the total catch limit of baleen whales from the land stations of the North Pacific at the level of 1965 until the above-mentioned assessment of coastal stocks will be finished.

"The proposed restriction of baleen whale catches from land stations at the average level of three years, from 1962 to 1964, will lead to the increase of the catches of 1966 to double the amount of 1965 and cannot be accepted by the Soviet delegation.

"g.

The Soviet delegation agrees to the recommendation of the Scientific Working Group that it is necessary to reduce the catches of female sperm whales."

* Chairman's note: The word "reservation" in the English version does not appear to fit the context. Perhaps "conservation" was intended.

"The United States Delegation cannot agree to any quotas based on blue whale units which are not consistent with the views expressed in the paragraph above."

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