Last week several ASWN members had the opportunity to attend the Scientific Committee (SC) meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Bled. A wide range of papers was presented, highlighting the important work conducted by ASWN members and their colleagues over the past year, and leading to renewed IWC endorsement and encouragement of research and conservation efforts in the region. Those present at the meeting took advantage of the opportunity to hold an opportunistic ASWN meeting over a lunch break, and many more informal gatherings over tea, coffee and dinner helped to consolidate relationships and future plans.
Documents highlighting the Arabian Sea were mostly presented in the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) subcommittee, but additional documents were also presented in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) subcommittee and the Human Induced Mortality (HIM) subcommittee, where it was recommended that by-catch in the Western, Central and Northern Indian Ocean be included in the workplan for the 2018 SC meeting.
The Recommendations resulting from the CMP subcommittee were numerous, endorsing the work that has been conducted and making several recommendations for future research and collaboration in the region. Watch this site for a full report of the SC meeting and a list of relevant recommendations when the report is finalized. In the meantime, please click on the links below to download PDF’s of the documents relevant to Arabian Sea whales that were presented at this year’s IWC SC meeting:
SC_67A_CMP_03_rev1_Baleen whale records from India
SC_67A_CMP_05_Arabian Sea humpback and baleen whale sightings from Pakistan
SC_67A_CMP_07_rev1_ASWN progress report
SC_67A_CMP_12_Update on Humpback Whale research in Oman
SC_67A_CMP_14_Presence of humpback whales in the Persian Gulf
SC_67A_CMP_15_Ensemble Niche modeling of humpback whale habitat in the Arabian Sea
SC_67A_HIM_03_AIS and modeling to mitigate ship strikes in Sri Lanka