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Amendments to the Schedule to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, London 1975 Done at London 27 June 1975 Entered into force 3 October 1975 Primary source citation: 27 UST 1885, TIAS 8286 INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION GREAT WESTMINSTER HOUSE, HORSEFERRY ROAD, LONDON, S.W. lP 2AE TELEPHONE: 01-216 7405 Chairman: A. G. BOLLEN (Australia) Vice-Chairman: I. RINDAL (Norway) Secretary: R. STACEY 6 October 1975. Our Ref AS XXVII CIRCULAR COMMUNICATION TO ALL CONTRACTING GOVERNMENTS INTERNATIONAL WHALING CONVENTION 1946 Amendments to the Schedule The Secretary refers to his circular letters of 4 July and 21 August 1975 notifying Contracting Governments of the amendments to the Schedule of the Convention agreed at the Commission's Twenty-seventh Annual Meeting. No objections have been received to the amendments a list of which is enclosed and they therefore became binding on all Contracting Governments from 3 October 1975. The Secretary requests an acknowledgement of this communication, a copy of which is also being sent to all Commissioners. INTERNATIONAL WHALING CONVENTION 1946 Amendments to the Schedule 1. At its Twenty-seventh meeting held in London from 23 to 27 June, 1975 the Commission agreed to the following amendments to the Schedule: Paragraph 1 * Add the following at end of paragraph: * "lactating whale" means (a) with respect to baleen whales - a female which has any milk present in a mammary gland. (b) with respect to sperm whales - a female which has milk present in a mammary gland the maximum thickness (depth) of which is 10 cm or more. This measurement shall be at the mid ventral point of the mammary gland perpendicular to the body axis, and shall be logged to the nearest centimetre; that is to say, any gland between 9.5 cm and 10.5 cm shall be logged as 10 cm. The measurement of any gland which falls on an exact 0.5 centimetre shall be logged at the next 0.5 centimetre, eg 10.5 cm shall be logged as 11.0 cm. However, notwithstanding these criteria, a whale shall not be considered a lactating whale if scientific (histological or other biological) evidence is presented to the appropriate national authority establishing that the whale could not at that point in its physical cycle have had a calf dependent on it for milk. Paragraph 2 (c) Line 2 * Delete 'one continuous open season' * Insert 'an open season or seasons' Paragraph 3 (c) Lines 5 and 6 * Delete 'such period of eight months to include the whole of the period of six months declared for baleen whales, except minke whales, as provided for in sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph'. Section III Capture * Delete "Prohibitions and areas" Delete Paragraphs 5, 6 and 7. Amend to read as follows: * Classification of Areas and Divisions 5. In paragraphs 6 and 11, areas in the Southern Hemisphere are those waters between the ice edge and 40 deg. South Latitude and lying between the following parallels of longitude, except that for sei and Bryde's whales combined and minke whales they shall extend to the equator: AREA I 120 deg. W - 60 deg. W AREA II 60 deg. W - 0 deg. AREA III 0 deg.- 70 deg. E AREA IV 70 deg. E - 130 deg. E AREA V 130 deg. E - 170 deg. W AREA VI 170 deg. W - 120 deg. W In paragraphs 6 and 15, divisions relating to the catch limits for Southern Hemisphere sperm whales are those waters lying between the ice edge and the equator and between the following parallels of longitude: Division 1 60 deg. W - 30 deg. W Division 2 30 deg. W - 20 deg. E Division 3 20 deg. E - 60 deg. E Division 4 60 deg. E - 90 deg. E Division 5 90 deg. E - 130 deg. E Division 6 130 deg. E - 160 deg. E Division 7 160 deg. E - 170 deg. W Division 8 170 deg. W - 100 deg. W Division 9 10 deg. W - 60 deg. W 6. Classification of Stocks All stocks of whales shall be classified in one of three categories according to the advice of the Scientific Committee as follows: (a) A Sustained Management Stock is a stock which is not more than 10 per cent of Maximum Sustainable Yield (hereinafter referred to as MSY) stock level below MSY stock level, and not more than 20 per cent above that level; MSY being determined on the basis of the number of whales: When a stock has remained at a stable level for a considerable period under a regime of approximately constant catches, it shall be classified as Sustained Management Stock in the absence of any positive evidence that it should be otherwise classified. Commercial whaling shall be permitted on Sustained Management Stocks according to the advice of the Scientific Committee. For the 1975/76 pelagic season and 1976 coastal season in the Southern Hemisphere and for the 1976 season in all other areas for stocks between the MSY stock level and 10 percent below that level, the permitted catch, except for sei whales and Bryde's whales combined in the Southern Hemisphere, shall not exceed the number of whales obtained by taking 90 percent of the MSY and reducing that number by 10 percent for every 1 percent by which the stock falls short of the MSY stock level. For stocks at or above the MSY stock level, the permitted catch shall not exceed 90 percent of the MSY. For sei and Bryde's whales combined in the Southern Hemisphere for the 1975/76 pelagic season and the 1976 coastal season the permitted catch of Sustained Management Stocks below the MSY stock level shall not exceed the number of whales obtained by taking 90 percent of the MSY and reducing that number by 5 percent for every 1 percent by which the stock at the beginning of the sustained management period falls short of the MSY stock level. The following stocks are classified as Sustained Management Stocks for the 1975/76 pelagic season and the 1976 coastal season in the Southern Hemisphere and for the 1976 season in all other areas: Fin Whales Southern Hemisphere Area I " North Atlantic (Iceland Stock) " North Atlantic (Newfoundland Stock) Sei and Bryde's Whales combined Southern Hemisphere Areas I, II, IV, V, VI Minke Whales Southern Hemisphere Area IV, North Atlantic (Stock East of Cape Farewell, Greenland) Sperm Whales-Males Southern Hemisphere Divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9 Sperm Whales-Females Southern Hemisphere Divisions 3, 4, 7, and 9 (b) An Initial Management Stock is 9 stock more than 20 percent of MSY stock level above MSY stock level. Commercial whaling shall be permitted on Initial Management Stocks according to the advice of the Scientific Committee as to measures necessary to bring the stocks to the MSY stock level and then optimum level in an efficient manner and without risk of reducing them below this level. The permitted catch for such stocks will not be more than 90 percent of MSY as far as this is known, or, where it will be more appropriate, catching effort shall be limited to that which will take 90 percent of MSY in a stock at MSY stock level. In the absence of any positive evidence that a continuing higher percentage will not reduce the stock below the MSY stock level no more than 5 percent of the estimated initial exploitable stock shall be taken in any one year. Exploitation should not commence until an estimate of stock size has been obtained which is satisfactory in the view of the Scientific Committee. The following stocks are classified as Initial Management stocks for the 1975/76 pelagic season and the 1976 coastal season in the Southern Hemisphere and for the 1976 season in all other areas. Minke Whales Southern Hemisphere Areas I, II, III, V, VI Minke Whales North Atlantic (Stock West of Cape Farewell, Greenland) Bryde's Whales North Pacific Sperm Whales-Males Southern Hemisphere Divisions 5 and 8 Sperm Whales-Females Southern Hemisphere Divisions 1, 2, 5, 6 and 8 Sperm Whales-Males North Pacific Sperm Whales-Females North Pacific (c) A Protection Stock is a stock which is below 10 percent of MSY stock level below MSY stock level. There shall be no commercial whaling on species or stocks whilst they are classified as Protection Stocks. The following stocks are classified as Protection Stocks for the 1975/76 pelagic season and 1976 coastal season in the Southern Hemisphere and for the 1976 season in all other areas. Blue Whales All Oceans Humpback Whales All Oceans Right Whales All Oceans Gray Whales All Oceans Fin Whales Southern Hemisphere Areas II, III, IV, V, VI Fin Whales North Pacific Fin Whales North Atlantic (Faroes and West Norway Stock) Fin Whales North Atlantic (Nova Scotia Stock) Sei Whales Southern Hemisphere Area III Sei Whales North Pacific Sperm Whales-Males Southern Hemisphere Division 6 7. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 6 the taking of 10 humpback whales not below 35 feet (10.7 metres) in length, per year is permitted in Greenland waters provided that whale catchers of less than 50 gross register tonnage are used for this purpose and the taking of gray or right whales by aborigines or a Contracting Government on behalf of aborigines but only when the meat and products of such whales are to be used exclusively for local consumption by the aborigines. Paragraph 8 * Amend to read as follows: * "It is forbidden to take or kill suckling calves or female whales accompanied by calves". Paragraph 11 * Amend to read as follows: * The number of fin whales taken during the open season in waters south of 40 deg. South Latitude by factory ships or whale catchers attached thereto under the jurisdiction of the Contracting Governments shall not exceed 220 in 1975/76. The taking of fin whales shall cease not later than 30 June 1976. The number of other species of baleen whales taken during the open season in the Southern Hemisphere by factory ships, land stations or whale catchers attached thereto under the jurisdiction of the Contracting Governments shall not exceed 2230 sei and Bryde's whales combined and 6810 minke whales in the 1975/76 pelagic season and the 1976 coastal season. The total catches taken in any of the areas I to VI shall not exceed the limits shown below. However, in no circumstances shall the sum of the area catches exceed the total quotas for each species: Fin Sei and Bryde's whales combined Minke Area I 220 198 1200 Area II 0 567 2160 Area III 0 0 2400 Area IV 0 671 891 Area V 0 693 840 Area Vl 0 297 600 Paragraph 12 * Amend to read as follows: * "The number of whales taken in the North Pacific Ocean and dependent waters in 1976 shall not exceed the following limits: