Section I: Summary

(from "Special Committee of Three Scientists - Final Report")


A. Introduction
1. The Committee of Three made reports to the Commission following its first meeting in Rome and its second meeting in Seattle. These reports indicated the action taken at those meetings, the results of the studies made, and further plans. Since the Seattle meeting further analyses have been made and further data processed by machine.

2. These further analyses have in no way contradicted but only confirmed the drastic need for action that was pointed out in the Second Interim Report. While this report is labelled final and is the definitive report as required by the Commission in its request to the Committee, it does not preclude the Committee providing supplementary information for the Commission when the Committee meets in June and has the 1962/63 season's data available to it for analysis.

3. In any case it should be emphasized that while this may be the final report of the Committee of Three, it should not be the final study of Antarctic whale stocks. The analyses presented here are the Committee's best estimate of the situation based on current data. As new data become available, new and revised analyses must be made by the Commission's own scientists which will serve to refine and sharpen these results.


B. Recommendations
4. The analysis given in Section II of this report leads to the following best present estimate of the state of the Antarctic whale stocks:

Species Catch in 1961/62 Sustainable Catch in 1962/63
(would not change stock level)		 Maximum sustainable yield when stocks have been permitted to rebuild Years to reach the level of maximum sustainable yield if no catch after 1961/62
Blue (other than pygmy blue) 700 less than 200 6,000 50 or more
Humpback
(Group IV and V*)		 810 less than 100 less than 1,000 50 or more
Fin 28,000 less than 7,000 20,000 5 or more
Pygmy blue 460 - probably a few hundred -
* Includes catches in temperate waters in 1961 and refers to total sustainable yields.

5. It is clear from this assessment that the blue whale and the Group IV and V humpbacks are in serious danger of extermination unless adequate protective measures are taken immediately. Fin whale stocks have been seriously depleted and are far below the levels of maximum sustainable yield.

6. Our recommendations, therefore, are:

(1)
That there be a complete cessation of catching of blue and humpback whales (Group IV and V) for a considerable number of years.
(2)
That the quota on fin whale catches be reduced to 7,000 or less. The greater the reduction in the present quota, the more rapidly will fin whale stocks rebuild to the level of maximum sustainable productivity.
Supplementary recommendations are:
(3)
The "blue whale unit" be eliminated and separate quotas established for each species.
(4)
Population analyses be continued, based on the pooled biological data of all the countries participating in Antarctic whaling.

7. The reasons for recommendation (3) were outlined in the Second Interim Report but we repeat them here for emphasis. "While the concept of the 'blue whale unit' may have had some administrative convenience and given some apparent flexibility to the operation of the quota system in the past, the maximum sustainable total yield can only eventually be obtained by taking the maximum sustainable yield for each of these species considered separately. If, even after stocks of all species had built up to the optimum level, the total catch taken in a certain season were equal to the maximum sustainable total catch, but the species were not taken in the correct proportions, then the stocks of one or two of them would be reduced below the optimum level and the others would be allowed to rise above the optimum, with a consequent reduction in the sustainable catch of each and all of them. While, as at present, all stocks are below the optimum level, any incorrect distribution of the current total sustainable yield would involve over-exploitation of certain species leading to further reduction of their stocks or, at best, to deferment of recovery to the optimum level. In either case this would result in a loss to the future total catch of that species which could never be recovered."

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