FINAL PRESS RELEASE Eleventh Meeting of the NAMMCO Council The North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) celebrated its 10 th anniversary in Ilulissat during the 11 th meeting of the NAMMCO Council 5 - 7 February 2002. The meeting wasattended by delegations from the member countries, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Norway, as well as observers from the Governments of Canada, Denmark, Japan and the Russian Federation. A number of inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations also attended the meeting. Hans Enoksen, the Minister of Fisheries, Hunting and Settlements of Greenland, opened the meeting with his reflections on the importance of sustainable utilisation of marine mammals in Greenland, and on the importance of NAMMCO. The Minister also focused on the future of NAMMCO, describing the organisation as having successfully passed its first ten years and now being ready for even larger obligations and challenges.
The Minister's welcome address touched upon areas that were central to this year's meeting. In taking stock of the decade that has passed, the NAMMCO Council noted with satisfaction that much had been achieved during that time. The organisation has gained international recognition, the Observation and Inspection Scheme is fully functional, the organisation has a solid scientific foundation and the Scientific Committee has thoroughly assessed key species and stocks, hunting methods have been addressed in two successful workshops, and two important international conferences have been held during the past ten years. Management advice has been provided to member countries on many North Atlantic stocks of whales and seals. Work on quantifying the interactions between marine mammals and fisheries is at the forefront of the NAMMCO ScientificCommittee's agenda, and is part of the larger goal of NAMMCO to apply an ecosystem approach to the study and management of marine mammals.
West Greenland Beluga and Narwhal
A working group of the NAMMCO Scientific Committee held a joint meeting with the Canada/Greenland Joint Commission on Conservation and Management of Narwhal and Beluga (JCN
in May 2001, to evaluate the population status of West Greenland beluga and narwhal. Greenlandic and Canadian hunters participated in the meeting. For beluga, similar conclusions were reached as in 2000, that the West Greenland beluga stock is substantially depleted and that present harvesting levels are not sustainable. The Scientific Committee provided several harvest options for the stock, with projected population trends for each option. This advice is used by the JCNB in providing their management recommendations to Canada and Greenland. With regard to narwhal, sufficient information on abundance and stock delineation was not available to allow a full assessment at this time. However it is anticipated that new information will be available which will enable such an assessment in 2003. Because the assessment of West Greenland beluga has been completed, the Council instructed the Scientific Committee to concentrate its assessment efforts on narwhal in the near term. Greenland informed the Management Committee that in November 2000 the Government made a decision in principle to introduce harvest quotas for beluga and narwhal. The Management Committee welcomed this information and commended Greenland for taking action on this difficult issue. Management Committee also expressed satisfaction with the continued scientific co-operation with the JCNB, which was found to be productive for both parties.
West Greenland Walrus
In 1995 the Management Committee recommended that Greenland take appropriate steps to arrest the decline of walrus along its west coast, and encouraged Canada to consider working co-operatively with Greenland to assist in achieving this objective. Greenland informed the Committee that a decision in principle had been made to introduce quotas on walrus.
North Atlantic Sightings Surveys (NASS)
The NAMMCO Scientific Committee co-ordinated the NASS-2001 survey, which covered much ofthe Central and Northeast Atlantic, with participation from the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway. Target species for the survey were minke and fin whales, but all species encountered were recorded.Abundance estimates for target and other species are presently being calculated by the Scientific Committee. The Council noted that Faroese and Norwegian research vessels, which had planned to include waters around the United Kingdom in their survey, were denied access to this area at the last moment. The Council deplored this decision of the United Kingdom, which was counterproductive to the conservation and effective management of cetaceans in the area.
Grey seals
Stocks of grey seals have apparently declined in Icelandic waters over the past 15 years, but have increased in many other areas of the North Atlantic. This species is both harvested and interacts with fisheries in 3 NAMMCO member countries. The Scientific Committee was therefore asked to provide a new assessment of grey seal stocks throughout the North Atlantic.
Humpback Whales
There are indications from the NASS surveys that the stock of humpback whales around Iceland has increased rapidly over the past 15 years. The Council therefore requested the Scientific Committee to complete abundance estimates for this species as a high priority.
Marine Mammal - Fisheries Interactions
The Council stressed the importance of continued work on marine mammal - fisheries interactions and noted that this will continue to be a high priority for NAMMCO. In 2001 the Scientific Committee held a workshop to investigate the methodological and analytical problems in estimating consumption by marine mammals. This resulted in concrete recommendations and research priorities to improve consumption estimates for minke whales and harp and hooded seals in the North Atlantic. Much work remains to be done, however, and the Council endorsed the Scientific Committee's plan to hold a further workshop on ecosystem models, aiming for a better understanding of the ecological role of minke whales and harp and hooded seals in the North Atlantic. Japan's whale research programs are providing valuable scientific information related to interactions between cetaceans and fisheries. The Council expressed its continued support for this research noting that it compliments the work of the NAMMCO Scientific Committee to develop multi-species models.
Collection of Data on Marine Mammal Bycatch
The Management Committee endorsed and encouraged the efforts of member countries to establish data collection systems to collect information on marine mammal bycatch. Subsequent to last year's decision to initiate a reporting system for marine mammal bycatch to NAMMCO, 2001 marked the first year when such data was reported to NAMMCO.
International Observation of Whaling and Sealing
Observations under the NAMMCO International Observation Scheme were conducted on sealing and whaling activities in Norway, pilot whaling in the Faroes and whaling in Greenland. The observations were carried out by international observers appointed by NAMMCO.
Workshop on Weapons, Ammunition and Ballistics
In November 2001 NAMMCO hosted a workshop on weapons, ammunition and ballistics in marine mammal hunting in Sandefjord, Norway, with participation from NAMMCO member countries as well as Canada and Sweden. The main objectives of the workshop were to increase the understanding of weapon types, ammunition and ballistics for hunters and others, and to develop guidelines for weapons and ammunition types used for different species. The report of the workshop provides an excellent reference for choosing the best weapons and ammunition for the effective and humane hunting of marine mammals.
Conference on User Knowledge and Scientific Knowledge in Management Decision Making
The Council endorsed a plan to hold an international conference on integrating user knowledge and scientific knowledge in management decision making, to be held in Iceland in January 2003. The conference will bring together hunters, managers and scientists in an open forum to discuss how the two knowledge systems differ and how they are similar, and where they converge. The conclusions from this comparison will aid the discussion on how management decisions can better take account of user knowledge as well as science.
Amalie Jessen (Greenland) was re-elected as chair of the Council, and Kaj P. Mortensen (Faroe Islands) was re-elected as vice-chair. The next meeting of the NAMMCO Council will be held in Tromsø, Norway, in March 2003.
