IWC
Report of the Scientific Committee: Annex O: Cetacean Stocks that Are or Might be Subject of Conservation Management Plans (CMPs) Technical Report
no. 123, 2018.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Arabian Sea, conservation, IWC
@techreport{,
title = {Report of the Scientific Committee: Annex O: Cetacean Stocks that Are or Might be Subject of Conservation Management Plans (CMPs)},
author = {IWC},
url = {https://archive.iwc.int/pages/download.php?ref=13044&ext=pdf&alternative=5232&noattach=true},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
urldate = {2018-01-01},
number = {123},
pages = {20},
publisher = {International Whaling Commission},
keywords = {Arabian Sea, conservation, IWC},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
Cates, K.,DeMaster, D.P.,Brownell Jr, R.L.,Silber, G. K.,Gende, S.,Leaper, R.,Ritter, F.,Panigada, S.
Strategic Plan to Mitigate the Impacts of Ship Strikes on Cetacean Populations: 2017-2020 Technical Report
no. 64, 2017.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: IWC, mitigation, risk assessment, ship strike, Threats, vessel traffic
@techreport{,
title = {Strategic Plan to Mitigate the Impacts of Ship Strikes on Cetacean Populations: 2017-2020},
author = {Cates, K.,DeMaster, D.P.,Brownell Jr, R.L.,Silber, G. K.,Gende, S.,Leaper, R.,Ritter, F.,Panigada, S.},
url = {https://iwc.int/private/downloads/dr1UJzeCuNpAWs9Xf9caBw/IWC_Strategic_Plan_on_Ship_Strikes_Working_Group_FINAL.pdf},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
journal = {Document presented and endorsed by the meeting of the Conservation Committee of the International Whaling Commission},
volume = {IWC/66/CC20 - updated },
number = {64},
pages = {17},
publisher = {International Whaling Commission},
abstract = {The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has identified the need to produce a Strategic Plan describing its activities intended to reduce the threat of ship strikes with cetaceans in the near and distant future. This document provides the necessary background, information and recommendations to help the IWC develop approaches and solutions by 2020 to achieve a permanent reduction in ship strikes of cetaceans.
A number of recommendations were accepted by the IWC at its October 2016 meeting (IWC-66), including: (1) Initiate efforts to get a more comprehensive and more accurate reporting of ship strike incidents into the Ship Strike Database, (2) Review records of ship strikes and add new records to the database in a reasonable time frame, (3) Improve on the reliability of species identification of ship struck whales, (4) Maintain an easily assessable compendium of relevant papers and reports of ship strike issues; produce an updated bibliography related to ship strike issues on a two year schedule, (5) Implement use of a standard protocol for reviewing and recording data into the Ship Strike database, and (6) Publish summary statistics from the Ship Strike database on a routine basis, and couple this effort with outreach efforts.
The IWC has recognized that reducing the spatial overlap of both high numbers of cetaceans and high numbers of vessels is likely to remain the best means of reducing ship strikes. Reducing vessel speeds in areas of high interactions is also a key element in mitigating adverse impacts on cetacean populations.
Finally, it was noted that human-induced mortality caused by ship strikes can be an impediment to cetacean population growth. Populations of whales in the low hundreds of individuals are at risk of continuing declines even if only a small number of ship strikes occur per year. Therefore, it is important to identify populations that are small, are in decline, or for which human activities result in whale deaths or injuries and to monitor these populations to evaluate the extent to which ship strikes are a threat:
a. Western North Atlantic right whale
b. Eastern North Pacific right whale
c. Chile-Peru right whale
d. Arabian Sea humpback whale
e. Western gray whale
f. Blue whale-Sri Lanka and Arabian Sea
g. Blue whale-Chile
h. Sperm whale-Mediterranean Sea
i. Fin whale-Mediterranean Sea
j. Bryde’s whale-Gulf of Mexico
k. Omura’s whale-Northwestern Madagascar
l. Sperm whale-Canary Islands region},
keywords = {IWC, mitigation, risk assessment, ship strike, Threats, vessel traffic},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has identified the need to produce a Strategic Plan describing its activities intended to reduce the threat of ship strikes with cetaceans in the near and distant future. This document provides the necessary background, information and recommendations to help the IWC develop approaches and solutions by 2020 to achieve a permanent reduction in ship strikes of cetaceans.
A number of recommendations were accepted by the IWC at its October 2016 meeting (IWC-66), including: (1) Initiate efforts to get a more comprehensive and more accurate reporting of ship strike incidents into the Ship Strike Database, (2) Review records of ship strikes and add new records to the database in a reasonable time frame, (3) Improve on the reliability of species identification of ship struck whales, (4) Maintain an easily assessable compendium of relevant papers and reports of ship strike issues; produce an updated bibliography related to ship strike issues on a two year schedule, (5) Implement use of a standard protocol for reviewing and recording data into the Ship Strike database, and (6) Publish summary statistics from the Ship Strike database on a routine basis, and couple this effort with outreach efforts.
The IWC has recognized that reducing the spatial overlap of both high numbers of cetaceans and high numbers of vessels is likely to remain the best means of reducing ship strikes. Reducing vessel speeds in areas of high interactions is also a key element in mitigating adverse impacts on cetacean populations.
Finally, it was noted that human-induced mortality caused by ship strikes can be an impediment to cetacean population growth. Populations of whales in the low hundreds of individuals are at risk of continuing declines even if only a small number of ship strikes occur per year. Therefore, it is important to identify populations that are small, are in decline, or for which human activities result in whale deaths or injuries and to monitor these populations to evaluate the extent to which ship strikes are a threat:
a. Western North Atlantic right whale
b. Eastern North Pacific right whale
c. Chile-Peru right whale
d. Arabian Sea humpback whale
e. Western gray whale
f. Blue whale-Sri Lanka and Arabian Sea
g. Blue whale-Chile
h. Sperm whale-Mediterranean Sea
i. Fin whale-Mediterranean Sea
j. Bryde’s whale-Gulf of Mexico
k. Omura’s whale-Northwestern Madagascar
l. Sperm whale-Canary Islands region
A number of recommendations were accepted by the IWC at its October 2016 meeting (IWC-66), including: (1) Initiate efforts to get a more comprehensive and more accurate reporting of ship strike incidents into the Ship Strike Database, (2) Review records of ship strikes and add new records to the database in a reasonable time frame, (3) Improve on the reliability of species identification of ship struck whales, (4) Maintain an easily assessable compendium of relevant papers and reports of ship strike issues; produce an updated bibliography related to ship strike issues on a two year schedule, (5) Implement use of a standard protocol for reviewing and recording data into the Ship Strike database, and (6) Publish summary statistics from the Ship Strike database on a routine basis, and couple this effort with outreach efforts.
The IWC has recognized that reducing the spatial overlap of both high numbers of cetaceans and high numbers of vessels is likely to remain the best means of reducing ship strikes. Reducing vessel speeds in areas of high interactions is also a key element in mitigating adverse impacts on cetacean populations.
Finally, it was noted that human-induced mortality caused by ship strikes can be an impediment to cetacean population growth. Populations of whales in the low hundreds of individuals are at risk of continuing declines even if only a small number of ship strikes occur per year. Therefore, it is important to identify populations that are small, are in decline, or for which human activities result in whale deaths or injuries and to monitor these populations to evaluate the extent to which ship strikes are a threat:
a. Western North Atlantic right whale
b. Eastern North Pacific right whale
c. Chile-Peru right whale
d. Arabian Sea humpback whale
e. Western gray whale
f. Blue whale-Sri Lanka and Arabian Sea
g. Blue whale-Chile
h. Sperm whale-Mediterranean Sea
i. Fin whale-Mediterranean Sea
j. Bryde’s whale-Gulf of Mexico
k. Omura’s whale-Northwestern Madagascar
l. Sperm whale-Canary Islands region
Clapham, P.J.,Ivashcenko, Y.V.
A whale of a deception Journal Article
In: Marine Fisheries Review, vol. 71, no. 347, pp. 44-52, 2009.
Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: Humpback Whale, IWC, Soviet whaling
@article{,
title = {A whale of a deception},
author = {Clapham, P.J.,Ivashcenko, Y.V.},
year = {2009},
date = {2009-01-01},
journal = {Marine Fisheries Review},
volume = {71},
number = {347},
pages = {44-52},
abstract = {A whaling fleet engaged in the practice
of whaling is hardly cause for comment.
What made these catches unusual,
however, was that almost all of them
were illegal.
Over the next two weeks, the vessels
of the Soviet fleet swept the northwestern
Indian Ocean. Their search for
whales took them from Oman to the
Gulf of Kutch off Pakistan, through
offshore waters west of the Indian city
of Bombay, and south to the Maldive
Islands. By the time Sovetskaya Ukraina
finally resumed her course for the Antarctic
on November 21st, her catcher
boats had delivered more than three
hundred whales to the huge floating factory
for processing. Most of the animals
had been either humpbacks, Megaptera
novaeangliae, or blue whales, Balaenoptera
musculus, two species that
were officially considered “protected”
under the international regulations that
governed commercial whaling.
When the Soviet fleet reached the
Antarctic, the pattern was repeated.
Already-depleted and supposedly protected
stocks of whales were plundered
for several months until the onset of the
austral winter. Finally, as the weather
turned increasingly foul, the factory
ship and her catchers began the long
journey home.},
keywords = {Humpback Whale, IWC, Soviet whaling},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
A whaling fleet engaged in the practice
of whaling is hardly cause for comment.
What made these catches unusual,
however, was that almost all of them
were illegal.
Over the next two weeks, the vessels
of the Soviet fleet swept the northwestern
Indian Ocean. Their search for
whales took them from Oman to the
Gulf of Kutch off Pakistan, through
offshore waters west of the Indian city
of Bombay, and south to the Maldive
Islands. By the time Sovetskaya Ukraina
finally resumed her course for the Antarctic
on November 21st, her catcher
boats had delivered more than three
hundred whales to the huge floating factory
for processing. Most of the animals
had been either humpbacks, Megaptera
novaeangliae, or blue whales, Balaenoptera
musculus, two species that
were officially considered “protected”
under the international regulations that
governed commercial whaling.
When the Soviet fleet reached the
Antarctic, the pattern was repeated.
Already-depleted and supposedly protected
stocks of whales were plundered
for several months until the onset of the
austral winter. Finally, as the weather
turned increasingly foul, the factory
ship and her catchers began the long
journey home.
of whaling is hardly cause for comment.
What made these catches unusual,
however, was that almost all of them
were illegal.
Over the next two weeks, the vessels
of the Soviet fleet swept the northwestern
Indian Ocean. Their search for
whales took them from Oman to the
Gulf of Kutch off Pakistan, through
offshore waters west of the Indian city
of Bombay, and south to the Maldive
Islands. By the time Sovetskaya Ukraina
finally resumed her course for the Antarctic
on November 21st, her catcher
boats had delivered more than three
hundred whales to the huge floating factory
for processing. Most of the animals
had been either humpbacks, Megaptera
novaeangliae, or blue whales, Balaenoptera
musculus, two species that
were officially considered “protected”
under the international regulations that
governed commercial whaling.
When the Soviet fleet reached the
Antarctic, the pattern was repeated.
Already-depleted and supposedly protected
stocks of whales were plundered
for several months until the onset of the
austral winter. Finally, as the weather
turned increasingly foul, the factory
ship and her catchers began the long
journey home.
Mikhalev,Y.A.
Bryde's whales of the Arabian Sea and adjacent waters Technical Report
no. 157, 2002, ISBN: SC/49/035.
Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: Arabian Sea, Blue whale, blue whales, Bryde's whale, Distribution, IWC, marine, Soviet whaling, stomach contents, whale, whales, whaling
@techreport{,
title = {Bryde's whales of the Arabian Sea and adjacent waters},
author = {Mikhalev,Y.A.},
issn = {SC/49/035},
year = {2002},
date = {2002-01-01},
journal = {Report presented to the Scientific Committee of the Internaitonal Whaling Commission},
volume = {SC/49/035},
number = {157},
pages = {1-10},
abstract = {Zemsky and Sazhinov (1982) reported that the Soviet Union continued to take blue whales long after they were protected by the IWC. It became possible to pulish the data about this illegal whaling only after the disintegration of the Soviet Union (Tormosov 1993 - Report on 10th Biennial Meeting of the Society of Marine Mammalogy in Galveston, Texas; Yablokov 1994; Doroshenko 1996; Mikhalev 1997). The most complete available data on Soviet whaling were presented at the 45th and 46th meetings of the IWC and were discussed by the Scientific Committee (Zemsky et al 1995; Tormosov 1995; Zemsky et al 1996). A more detailed comparison between the accurate data and falsified data, which were submitted to the IWC by Soviet whaling fleets, for the period from 1947 to 1972 was published in a separate volume (Zemsky et al 1995, 1996). As a continuation of the recent publication of actual Soviet whaling data, this report presents data on illegal catches of Bryde's whales in the Arabian Sea and adjacent waters up to 5§ - 10§S. Data are presented on sex, size, distribution, stomach contents of whales taken as well as the reproductive state of females and the sizes of fetuses.},
keywords = {Arabian Sea, Blue whale, blue whales, Bryde's whale, Distribution, IWC, marine, Soviet whaling, stomach contents, whale, whales, whaling},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
Zemsky and Sazhinov (1982) reported that the Soviet Union continued to take blue whales long after they were protected by the IWC. It became possible to pulish the data about this illegal whaling only after the disintegration of the Soviet Union (Tormosov 1993 - Report on 10th Biennial Meeting of the Society of Marine Mammalogy in Galveston, Texas; Yablokov 1994; Doroshenko 1996; Mikhalev 1997). The most complete available data on Soviet whaling were presented at the 45th and 46th meetings of the IWC and were discussed by the Scientific Committee (Zemsky et al 1995; Tormosov 1995; Zemsky et al 1996). A more detailed comparison between the accurate data and falsified data, which were submitted to the IWC by Soviet whaling fleets, for the period from 1947 to 1972 was published in a separate volume (Zemsky et al 1995, 1996). As a continuation of the recent publication of actual Soviet whaling data, this report presents data on illegal catches of Bryde's whales in the Arabian Sea and adjacent waters up to 5§ - 10§S. Data are presented on sex, size, distribution, stomach contents of whales taken as well as the reproductive state of females and the sizes of fetuses.
Mikhalev,Y.A.
Sperm whales of the Arabian Sea Technical Report
no. 155, 1998.
Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: Arabian Sea, baleen whale, baleen whales, Blue whale, blue whales, Bryde's whale, cetacean, Humpback Whale, humpback whales, Indian Ocean, IWC, pygmy blue whale, Pygmy blue whales, Slava, Soviet whaling, sperm whale, sperm whales, whale, whales, whaling
@techreport{,
title = {Sperm whales of the Arabian Sea},
author = {Mikhalev,Y.A.},
year = {1998},
date = {1998-01-01},
journal = {Report presented to the Scientific Committee of the Internaitonal Whaling Commission},
volume = {SC/50/CAWS40},
number = {155},
pages = {1-7},
publisher = {Internaitonal Whaling Commission},
abstract = {This article is part of the ongoing publication of materials about true whale catches by Soviet whaling fleets (Yablokov, 1994, Tormosov, 1995; Zemsky, et al, 1995, 1995a, 1996; Mikhalev 1995, 1997, 1997a). The goal of this article is to provide real quantitative characteristics, as well as size and sexual composition, of the sperm whales taken by the fleets Slava and Sovietskaya Ukraina in the Arabian Sea during the period 1963 to 1967. While the catching of baleen whales - pygmy blue whales, Bryde's whales, and humpback whales - in the northwestern Indian Ocean (Mikhalev, 1995, 1997) was absolutely prohibited and thus was a most serious violation of IWC rules, the sperm whale catches in the region had a more masked character. Harvesting of this species was not restricted to areas south of the 40øS, but rather by date and animal size. The first information about sperm whales met in this region by Soviet whalers became known through Yukhov (1969) His article reported that the stock was mixed, including both barren and lactating females as well as young males. Such detailed information about the sperm whales' stock structure should have indicated that the author's primary material was not based on visual observation, but on the results of catches. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, cetacean research laboratories were liquidated and a portion of their primary materials disappeared. Other portions ended up distributed among various former Soviet republics, now independent states, and in private archives. Nonetheless, it was possible to recover with a high level of confidence data on the biological composition, especially the quantitative and size characteristics, of whales taken in the Arabian Sea.},
keywords = {Arabian Sea, baleen whale, baleen whales, Blue whale, blue whales, Bryde's whale, cetacean, Humpback Whale, humpback whales, Indian Ocean, IWC, pygmy blue whale, Pygmy blue whales, Slava, Soviet whaling, sperm whale, sperm whales, whale, whales, whaling},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
This article is part of the ongoing publication of materials about true whale catches by Soviet whaling fleets (Yablokov, 1994, Tormosov, 1995; Zemsky, et al, 1995, 1995a, 1996; Mikhalev 1995, 1997, 1997a). The goal of this article is to provide real quantitative characteristics, as well as size and sexual composition, of the sperm whales taken by the fleets Slava and Sovietskaya Ukraina in the Arabian Sea during the period 1963 to 1967. While the catching of baleen whales - pygmy blue whales, Bryde's whales, and humpback whales - in the northwestern Indian Ocean (Mikhalev, 1995, 1997) was absolutely prohibited and thus was a most serious violation of IWC rules, the sperm whale catches in the region had a more masked character. Harvesting of this species was not restricted to areas south of the 40øS, but rather by date and animal size. The first information about sperm whales met in this region by Soviet whalers became known through Yukhov (1969) His article reported that the stock was mixed, including both barren and lactating females as well as young males. Such detailed information about the sperm whales' stock structure should have indicated that the author's primary material was not based on visual observation, but on the results of catches. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, cetacean research laboratories were liquidated and a portion of their primary materials disappeared. Other portions ended up distributed among various former Soviet republics, now independent states, and in private archives. Nonetheless, it was possible to recover with a high level of confidence data on the biological composition, especially the quantitative and size characteristics, of whales taken in the Arabian Sea.