IWC60 2008
Report from IWC60 2010 Santiago, Chile.
International Whaling Commission Meeting (IWC)
Santiago, Chile
June 23rd to June 27th
This year the International Whaling Commission Meeting was held in Santiago, Chile.
The IWC opening speech was conducted by the Chairman Dr.William Hogarth and followed by welcome speeches of the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Alejandro Foxley and the Chilean Minister of the Environment Mrs. Ana Lya Uriarte.
This year there were three new member countries : Republic of Congo and Eritrea for the whalers side (this last was not official up to September 2008), and Tanzania for the Conservation side. Uruguay and Rumania assisted as new member countries officially as of the end of 2007. Uruguay was active for the conservation side. Rumania was quiet.
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Hogarth, chair of the Commission. After the adoption of the agenda, the Commission discussed the Report of the Scientific Committee (SC) and briefly they mentioned the Eastern Canadian Arctic whales.
To our surprise, the Commission invited NGOs to make presentations few days later, but only three NGOs from the side of whale conservation and three of the side of the whalers!.
The Chairman set some new rules such as: - Requested that points of order to be kept to a minimum - He mentioned that would only allow a second intervention of a country after all the others have spoken
The Chairman also commented that he did not expect it any Resolutions.
Japan took the floor and maintained their position regarding small cetaceans (dolphins, porpoises and small whales). They maintained that they are committed to the normalization of the IWC.
Whale stocks
Antarctic Minke whales
The Chairman of the Scientific Committee Mr. Arne Bjorge, commented that recent surveys show a decline on the stocks. The SC has been trying to prove if this decline of the stocks is real, so there is an ongoing research.
The SC commented about a research been done to whales looking at the ear plugs to determine their age. New Zealand criticized the validity of this method to estimate the age of the whales. The Japanese didn't agree with the New Zealanders.
The U.S., Mexico, Australia and the U.K. expressed their concern about the Western North Pacific Minke whales. The mortality of these whales is high mostly due to bycatch. Australia suggested a more accurate abundance estimate and also suggested that all the genetically samples be made available freely.
Japan explained briefly about lethal and non lethal studies and complained that the opinion of the SC report is like they haven't done anything regarding research, but that they have done their share!
They also commented about by catch, that it has been the same amount, same size and shape of their nets that has been used for the last 30 years.
Western North Pacific Gray Whale
Lots of attention had the status of the endangered western North Pacific gray whale, whose feeding grounds coincide with oil and gas operations off Sakhalin Island, Russian Federation. The population numbers only about 120 animals and although there is evidence that it has been increasing at perhaps 3% per year over the last decade, any additional deaths, for example in fishing gear as has recently occurred, put the survival of the population in doubt. The Commission agreed to work together to try to mitigate anthropogenic threats to this endangered population and there was praise for Japanese efforts to reduce bycatches in its waters.
- Comments
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- There are rumours all over the hotel, the conference room and aisles, that Iceland had send a big amount of whale meat to Japan and that Norway has also sent a smaller amount of whale meat to Japan.
- Dan Morast could not come this year as the leader of the Conservation NGOs due to work, so he appointed D.J. Schubert (Animal Welfare Institute) to take over his duties.
The SC report
Southern Hemisphere Blue Whales
Since I am in South America, I thought it may be important to mention this whale. There is a suggested maximum Annual growth rate of 8.5 % for this population. A recent estimate of abundance of stock is of only 2,280 (which it is still less than 1 % of the population that it was before hunting began).
Costa Rica suggested more research to be done on these whales and Australia commented about the threat to the Southern Hemisphere Blue Whales by climate change.
North Pacific Right Whales
The SC estimated that probably they have a population of less than 100 whales.
Western North Pacific Gray Whale
The SC and the Commission have expressed concern about these whales. There is a big risk of extinction to these whales by 2050.
Five whales were found dead on the coast off Japan last year. Due to these incidents, Japan adopted a new law to protect the Western North Pacific Gray whales.
The SC mentioned the distribution of the Western North Pacific whales because of the oil and gas area near their feeding ground around the Sakhalin Island, Russian Federation. Existing and planned gas and oil developments pose a potential threat to the population. This population has about 120 whales and there is evidence of an increase of about 3% of the population per year over the last decade, but any more accidental deaths could put this population survival rate in doubt. Ship strikes, noise, oil spills and habitat damage are potential treats to the population.
The IUCN Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel (WGWAP) has met twice since the last meeting and held four workshops, one on photoidentification, two on seismic surveys and one on oil spills. All WGWAP reports are available on the IUCN website3. The WGWAP's task is to advise Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (SEIC) on mitigation measures to limit the impact of their petroleum extraction activities on western gray whales. Several IWC Scientific Committee members are also members of the WGWAP. A progress report on the Panel's work is given as Annex F, Appendix 2. In view of the findings of the population assessment that anthropogenic impacts outside the Sakhalin area, specifically bycatches on the Pacific coast of Japan, may not be sustainable, the IUCN Global Marine programme is convening a rangewide workshop on western gray whales in Tokyo in September 2008. A
Mexico called for a full collaboration between Russia and the U.S. to protect these whales and highlighted the Importance of declaring sanctuaries. The U.K. is concern about the small population and stated that the IWC must learn from the extinction of the Chinese River dolphin (Baiji) and must avoid as possible human induced losses.
Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whales
Recent data on the distribution patterns and movements of bowhead whales in Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay and the authors identified several discrepancies with the two stock model currently accepted by the IWC. They concluded that a variety of evidence (including tagging telemetry), evidence of segregation and a lack of sightings of calves in some areas) could best be explained by the hypothesis that bowheads summering in the eastern Canadian Arctic and wintering off West Greenland comprise a single Eastern Canada-Western Greenland population, segregated by age and sex.
SC/60/BRG/19 examined sex segregation and site fidelity based on data obtained from biopsy samples of 333 bowhead whales collected between 1995 and 2007 at four localities in the Eastern Canadian Arctic and at one locality in West Greenland (Disko Bay). Females predominated in Disko Bay (81% female) whereas a more balanced sex ratio (~50% female) was found in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. Observations on length suggest that it is primarily large mature females without calves in Disko Bay and mother-calf pairs at Igloolik. The authors interpreted their results to suggest that the population size is large and that there is limited annual individual site fidelity to specific localities.
Due to problems they identified during the meeting with their genetic data, Canadian scientists reported that during the coming year, following the recommendations in Annex I, they will develop a suitable dataset for genetic analysis. Thus, no genetic data regarding stock structure were presented this year. The Committee reconfirms that a single shared Canada-Greenland stock in the eastern Arctic should be considered the working hypothesis given that this is considered more plausible in the light of results from satellite tagging. However, it further recommends that a thorough discussion on stock structure, including revised analyses of genetic data, should occur at next year's meeting. The Committee encouraged the continued tagging and a combined analysis of all satellite tracks.
The report of a working group established to identify or develop a suitable abundance estimate for use in the development of interim management advice for the West Greenland aboriginal harvest of bowhead whales is given as Annex F, Appendix 3. The abundance estimate of 6,344 (95% CI=3,119-12,906) for the single eastern Arctic bowhead whale stock is suitable for use in development of management advice for aboriginal harvest of bowheads off West Greenland. Under the alternative but less plausible two stock hypothesis, the Committee agreed that the conservative estimates of 6,344 (95% CI=3,119-12,906) and 1,525 (95% CI=333-6,990) were acceptable for the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait and Foxe Basin-Hudson Bay stocks, respectively.
Estimation of cetacean mortality from ship strikes
The SC reported that 11% of 556 cetacean carcasses found ashore in the Canary Islands between 1991 and 2007 had been classified as fatalities from collisions with vessels. The authors noted that lethal ship strikes appear to have increased considerably in recent years. Sperm whales were the most frequently reported. Potential mitigation measures include the use of dedicated look-outs, changes in ferry routes and speed limitations within potentially high-risk areas. Dedicated look-outs and the introduction of an obligatory reporting system of vessel-whale collisions would assist in assessing collision rates.In discussion, it was noted that rigorous necropsies and forensic methods using tissue samples (especially heart and lung) had been conducted where possible to determine whether the animals had been struck before or after death. However, such data were not available for many animals. Abundance and trend data are required to understand population level significance of ship strike mortality as well as to interpret changes in reported collision rates, and compare areas thought to have the highest collision risk with reported strandings/carcass locations. S
The Committee reported on ship collisions with Bryde's whales off northern New Zealand. Vessel traffic coincides with Bryde's whale habitat, especially around the main port of Auckland, in the Hauraki Gulf. Bryde's whale abundance in the Hauraki Gulf area is estimated to be between 46 and 159 individuals, some of which are found year-round. A review of stranding data for northern New Zealand, showed that between 1989 and 2007, about 34% of Bryde's whale carcasses (n=38) were confirmed or suspected to have died due to vessel strike injuries.
Geographic Information System (GIS) data were used to integrate coastal attributes, vessel and southern right whale distribution around the city of Puerto Madryn in Argentina. Coincidentally, the southern right whale population, the human population of the city of Puerto Madryn and vessel activity in the adjacent bay each had an average annual growth rate of 7%. Patterns of use of coastal waters by whales and vessels were analysed at different spatial scales. A number of scenarios for the bay were generated, based on vessel activity and abundance of whales in the Bay, suggesting an increasing risk of collision events.
The SC estimated shipping density and vessel speed distributions using information received from VHF radio Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) during a survey for cetaceans in the eastern Mediterranean, to provide data on shipping density for modelling of risk index; AIS also provides information on vessel speeds. In discussion, it was noted that although there are limitations to the use of AIS data (e.g. variability in reception range, problems with fine scale concentration of shipping density, not all vessels are required to transmit AIS signals), gathering such data during cetacean surveys has the advantage of using designed tracklines and allows cetacean and shipping density to be compared directly.
While AIS data can be obtained from archives from fixed aerials on shore, the range is limited and it is easy to collect and store data while at sea. SC/60/BC8 examined indices of risk generated by comparing patterns of shipping and whale density using spatial models to predict areas of high ship strike-risk for humpback, fin and killer whales in British Columbia, Canada. The analyses used data from a systematic line transect survey in 2004 and 2005, and additional data from summer 2006. Shipping information was provided by the Canadian Coast Guard. Risk indices were produced for each species to show the expected distribution of interactions between whales and ships, defined as the product of average whale density and shipping intensity (total number of ships transiting the grid cell during the year). Ship strike risk was expected to increase for humpback and fin whales due to increased ship traffic. The authors suggested that the analysis framework should also be useful for allocating resources efficiently for monitoring ship strike mortality in sparsely populated parts of the coastline.
In discussion it was suggested that the variability in species distribution in the three seasons of survey effort may not have fully captured the extent of known variability in distribution of fin and humpback whales; however, for killer whales the surveys results were consistent with previous studies based on almost 30 years of observations. Likely high risk areas for humpback and fin whales were far from human population centres and thus carcass detection may be low. The highest risk for killer whales was identified to be those areas which are heavily utilised for whale watching and so collision events are more likely to be detected. This paper raised several general issues regarding modelling relative risk and the generation of species specific indices of risk for a specific area.
These include:
incorporation of other variables (e.g. surface
behaviours; seasonal changes in habitat use;
age/reproductive state
vulnerability;
vessel type;
speed which might increase vulnerability to
collisions; comparison of yearround shipping data
with seasonal whale data; use of a Generalised Linear
Model (GLM) or similar approach.
More detailed discussions can be found in Annex J. It was noted that converting indices of relative risk to estimates of absolute risk would require models that incorporated further data from reported incidents such as those being collected in the IWC global database.
Marine debris
A spatial modelling analysis of the distribution of floating marine debris in coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada and that of cetaceans. Debris was concentrated off southern Vancouver Island and off northern Queen Charlotte Islands; perhaps surprisingly concentrations were low near the off the city of Vancouver. Preliminary examination of the data revealed a stronger overlap of the distribution of debris with that of fin and humpback whales rather than killer whales. The lack of obvious correlation between proximity to large urban areas and density of marine debris suggests that this analysis identifies areas of debris accumulation rather than sources of debris. Such analyses may also be useful for identifying priority areas to search for whale carcasses that have become entangled in marine debris. The Committee also discussed the incidence of plastic ingestion as a cause of mortality. Plastic bags have been frequently found in cetacean stomachs although most instances have involved small cetaceans.
Mortality from acoustic sources
Yang et al. (2008) reported on 23 cetacean strandings along the coast of China, Taiwan in 2005; of 15 initially reported as live strandings, 3 were released. A total of 3 of 15 animals examined post-mortem were sufficiently fresh to allow detailed pathological examination; 2 were beaked whales that had severe injuries consistent with gas emboli. The cause of death could not be conclusively determined. There were some features in common with sonar-related cetacean strandings but a number of differences including the fact that the strandings occurred over a longer period and larger geographical range.
Other causes of death
SC/60/E5 reports on an apparently unusual mortality event featuring strandings of a number of species in the British Isles over the first three months of 2008 Most were dead when they stranded and many were in advanced stages of decay, making determination of the causal factors especially difficult. A modelling exercise of drift patterns prior to stranding is being conducted to try to determine the region(s) of origin of the bodies and thereby try to narrow down the factors involved. In addition to loud noises, factors potentially involved could include disease, acute prey changes and fisheries.The Committee looked forward to results of further investigations of these strandings that might have implications for estimating human induced mortality, such as use of oceanographic modelling to relate location of death to possible human causes and studies of pathology.
Data collection, collation and sharing
Collaboration with FAO
The Committee has been working on collaboration with
the FAO on collation of relevant fisheries and
bycatch data with the aim of identifying fisheries
where further monitoring would be valuable. Entering
data from all bycatches reported to IWC since 1980
continued intersessionally. Further discussions with
the FAO to determine how the bycatch data can be
related to their fisheries database are planned once
the data entry is complete.
Collaboration with ACCOBAMS on ship strikes The ACCOBAMS Scientific Committee has established a steering Committee and larger Working Group to carry out the recommendations of two inter-related workshops held in 2005 on the status and threats to fin whales and on ship strikes of all species in the ACCOBAMS area. An early focus will be to liaise with countries that are situated along the bank of a river and others to obtain information on cetaceans and vessel traffic that may enable the identification of potential high risk areas for ship strikes.
Progress on developing a global IWC database of ship strikes
There is a need for a global database of the incidents involving collisions between vessels and whales has been recognised by the Committee as well as other bodies such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Ericka Ceballos
Santiago, Chile
June 2008
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