(from "Chairman's Report of the Thirty-Fourth Annual Meeting")

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the 5th IDCR/IWC Antarctic minke whale assessment cruise;

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minke whale cruise data validation;

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minke whale ageing workshop

should all be given first priority. The costs could be met from existing monies in the Research Fund.

A Bryde's whale sightings and marking cruise off Peru would also be conducted in association with the Antarctic programme.

A second priority item was a right whale workshop to examine recovery of protected species, also from available funding.

New funding was required for four projects:

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West Greenland cetaceans;

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catch history of western North Atlantic right whales;

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North Atlantic humpback stock identity;

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extraction of Antarctic blue and fin whale logbook data.

The Technical Committee endorsed these proposals which were approved by the Commission.

South Africa stated that it will, in the coming year, again make a financial contribution to the Research Fund, in keeping with its commitment to conservation and scientific research.

17.2 Whale habitats
The Scientific Committee considered questions relating to the impact of industrial development and environment degradation on whale habitats. It recommended that information should be sought for consideration next year and that the Secretary should contact FAO for information on changes in fish stocks which are the food of whales.

The Technical Committee agreed to these recommendations which the Commission endorsed, together with three arising from consideration of the effects of pollution on whale populations:

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member nations should ensure that appropriate sampling and analysis of effects is carried out especially in regard to organochlorine compounds and toothed whales;

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relevant studies should be listed in Progress Reports, and the results of particular interest presented more fully;

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the IWC should co-operate with ICES and forward available documents.

St Vincent remarked on the problems posed by pollutants in products for human consumption including diseases identifiable with high mercury content.

Denmark stated its concern on the adverse effects, including that of shipping, on the environment, which was included in a Resolution of the 31st Annual Meeting. It believes that the Arctic is an area of special concern and the transport of liquid natural gas from the eastern Canadian Arctic by large ice-breaking tankers poses serious questions especially through the noise they generate. Greenland considers that the uncertainties are too great with respect to the status, distribution and critical habitats of marine mammals in this area. Denmark urged that plans should not be implemented for year-round shipping before solutions are found to the problems posed.

Together with the Netherlands and Sweden, it proposed a Resolution dealing with this problem, this was withdrawn when many delegations indicated that they had insufficient knowledge of the matter or the jurisdictional problems involved.

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