Resolution on Dall’s Porpoise

RECALLING that in 1990 the Commission requested the Japanese Government to urgently consider the advice from the Scientific Committee concerning the Dall's porpoise stocks exploited in the Japanese hand harpoon fishery, to reduce catches to pre-1986 levels, and to consider further reductions in take when new stock assessments became available;

NOTING that 8 years have elapsed since the Scientific Committee's last review in 1991, during which time:

1. over 115,000 Dall's porpoises have been taken in the fishery, with catches tending to increase in recent years;
2. concerns have been raised in the Scientific Committee about the unpublished 1990 abundance estimate, on which the Government of Japan has based its domestic quota;
3. the potential for significant bycatch has been identified;
4. a more systematic approach to precaution, within the Scientific Committee and within other national and international bodies charged with the conservation of small cetaceans, has led to significant reductions in the rates of removals considered safely sustainable;

CONSIDERING that the Scientific Committee has in 1999 reiterated its concerns over the status of the exploited stocks;

NOTING that the Scientific Committee has offered advice to the Government of Japan on Dall's porpoise in the past, and that such advice has led to very positive responses from the Government;

NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION:
WELCOMES the plans of the Japanese Government to conduct abundance surveys, encourages further genetic studies, and looks forward to continued cooperation with, and exchange of information between, the Scientific Committee and the Government of Japan;

DIRECTS the Scientific Committee to review the status of the impacted stocks in the 53rd Annual Meeting;

ENCOURAGES the Government of Japan to make available the data identified by the Scientific Committee as relevant for such a review, in sufficient time to allow analysis before the 53rd Annual Meeting;

INVITES the Government of Japan meanwhile to reconsider the level of its domestic quota, in the light of the concerns identified above.