16. SECOND INTERNATIONAL DECADE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH (1989)

16. SECOND INTERNATIONAL DECADE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH

(from "Chairman's Report of the Forty-First Annual Meeting")

16.1 Report of the Scientific Committee
The Scientific Committee reviewed the results of the four studies funded last year:
- radio-telemetric study of the behaviour of blue, fin and humpback whales;
- analysis of North Pacific humpback whale photographs;
- IWC/IDCR Southern Hemisphere minke whale cruise, 1988/89;
- analysis of IDCR photographs of minke whales.

A fifth proposal, for a proposed meeting on the mortality of cetaceans in fishing nets and traps had been endorsed in principle by the Commission but not funded due to budgetary considerations. This year the Committee again recommended that this technical meeting be held, noting that participants should be scientific experts and not specifically delegates from IWC member nations. The Committee also recommended that a further IWC/IDCR Southern Hemisphere minke whale assessment cruise be undertaken in 1989/90.

In addition to the above two proposals generated within the Scientific Committee, it also reviewed five unsolicited research proposals of which it recommended three for funding. In reviewing these, the Scientific Committee made two general recommendations concerning advice given by the Secretariat to proposers:

(1): that the Commission allocates funds on an annual basis;
(2): if multi-year proposals are submitted, these should be divided into discrete annual units.

The 1989/90 proposals were referred to the Finance and Administration Committee.

The Technical Committee endorsed the recommendations noted above.