6. CATCH HISTORY REVISIONS (1995)

6. CATCH HISTORY REVISIONS

(from "Annex E - Report of the Sub-Committee on Southern Hemisphere Baleen Whales" of "Report of the Scientific Committee", 1995 meeting)

Last year, Zemsky et al. (1995) reported that an ongoing examination of original catch records from past Soviet Antarctic pelagic whaling after World War II revealed major falsifications of the records that had been submitted by the Soviet authorities to the BIWS and later transferred to the IWC Secretariat database. However, no protected species were taken after the introduction of the International Observer Scheme in 1972. This year, Zemsky, Mikhaliev and Berzin provided supplementary information on Soviet whaling in the Southern Hemisphere for the same period; specifically, catches by Area for 1961/62 - 1965/66 for the Slava and from 1966/67 - 1972/73 for the Sovietskaya Rossia, and catches by month for the Slava from 1948/49 - 1965/66 and for the Sovietskaya Rossia from 1961/62 - 1972/73. A map showing the distribution of available catches of all species combined for all four Soviet factory ships was also provided.

The sub-committee welcomed this compilation, which would be an invaluable contribution to any reassessment of southern baleen whale stocks. In clarification it was pointed out that small apparent discrepancies between the figures by Area and month produced this year and the total catches given last year, reflected the fact that not all catches could be allocated by Area or month, and not that the catch figures themselves were different. Zemsky commented that the compilation was the most comprehensive they could achieve given the available information: he doubted that much (if any) further information was available for these two factory ships, but he and his colleagues would continue to look for it and would incorporate any new data in subsequent revisions. Data for the other two Soviet expeditions (Sovietskaya Ukraina and Yuri Dolgorukii) broken down by month, species and Area (as available) would be presented to next year's meeting.

The sub-committee agreed that it would be useful to include the data presented at this meeting as an appendix (as last year) with appropriate caveats. It is attached as Appendix 5.*

In answer to a query, Zemsky announced that he and his colleagues were also compiling a revised list of the Soviet marking and recovery data, which they had only just received before the meeting. It was hoped to provide a report to next year's meeting.

The sub-committee thanked the Russian scientists for their hard work and wished them well in completing their task. It looked forward to receiving their report next year.

* Editor's note: since the meeting, a book has been published containing the currently available revised Soviet whaling data: Zemsky, V.A., Berzin, A.A., Mikhalyev, Y.A. and Tormosov, D.D. 1995. Soviet Antarctic Whaling Data (1947 - 1972). Center for Russian Environmental Policy, Moscow. 320 pp. [In Russian and English].

In Appendix 5 a previously undeclared catch of 242 humpback whales by Soviet factory ships in the Arabian Sea between 1963 and 1966 was described, 238 of which had been caught in November 1966, at a time when southern humpback whales were well on their way south to higher latitudes. Foetal length data indicated that these animals were on a Northern Hemisphere breeding cycle, and the absence of oval white scars on the bodies of these animals indicated that they did not migrate through equatorial regions where the biting agent responsible for the scarring was believed to occur. This information, plus observations of unusual pathologies of the liver, suggested that the population was an isolated one, with no indication of a seasonal migration to higher latitudes.

In discussion, Mikhaliev reported that all morphometric data and reproductive and age material from the catch had unfortunately been lost. Papastavrou commented that the waters of Oman represented a unique oceanographic environment with deep upwellings and elements of temperate ecosystems including kelp; recent sightings data indicated the presence of humpback whales in the area in all but one month of the year, suggesting that they might be a resident population.

In response to IWC Resolution 1994-6, Kock reported on a validation exercise for pre-World War II whaling data from Germany (SC/47/O 4). In general, the data he examined agreed closely with what was already in the IWC's database, with the exception of a catch of 607 sperm whales off Ecuador/Peru by the Jan Wellem in 1938, which was previously unreported. He also mentioned that the struck and lost take for this expedition was unusually high (sometimes 10 - 15%), apparently due to poor equipment: not all the whales lost had been reported to the Bureau for Whaling Statistics. The sub-committee expressed its thanks to Kock, and looked forward to seeing a similar validation of Olympic Challenger's catch data which he was preparing.