RECENT AND FORTHCOMING WORKSHOPS

IWC-POWER WORKSHOP:  Tokyo, 26-30 September 2011 (26-28 September, technical advisory working group; 29-30 September, planning for 2012 cruise)

The Committee has strongly advocated the development of an international medium- to long-term research programme involving sighting surveys to provide information for assessment, conservation and management of cetaceans in the North Pacific, including areas that have not been surveyed for decades. The finalisation of the integrated mid-long-term programme (IWC-POWER; the Pacific Ocean Whales and Ecosystem Research programme) that will provide information on stock structure, abundance and ultimately trends is almost completed; the analytical work will be completed at the intersessional workshop.

The 2012 cruise will be focussed on another poorly-covered area of the North Pacific (and includes both the high seas and waters within the USA EEZ). The cruise will last approximately 60 days between July and August 2012. By far the most important component of the cost of such cruises is the provision of a research vessel, crew and fuel (up to $1m) and that is generously being provided by Japan.

Steering Group: Kato (Convenor), An, Bannister, Brownell, Clapham, Donovan, Ensor, Matsuoka, Miyashita, Murase, Pastene, Wade.

ANTARCTIC MINKE WHALE ABUNDANCE WORKSHOP: Bergen, Norway, Spring 2012

 Over the past three years, the OK and SPLINTR methods have presented estimates of Antarctic minke whale abundance from the CPII and CPIII IDCR/SOWER cruise data. Considerable work has eliminated several possible sources of difference between the two methods. However, some items remain to be dealt with. This can only be achieved by intersessional work prior to a workshop followed by work prior to the annual meeting.

Steering Group: Walløe (Convenor), Bravington, Butterworth, Hedley, Kitakado, Okamura, Palka, Skaug.

SORP NON-LETHAL RESEARCH TECHNIQUES WORKSHOP: Puerto Varas, Chile, 27-29 March

Planning for this symposium is well advanced and a programme has been developed that will cover significant advances in non-lethal research techniques and their application to key research questions in the Southern Hemisphere. The draft programme consists of four sessions covering: (i) molecular techniques; (ii) biologging; (iii) remote sensing; and (iv) long term data sets. For each component there will be a a key note speaker, some detailed case studies, followed by a panel discussion. The symposium will be followed by four workshops covering: (i) health assessment of live whales; (ii) advances in tagging attachment techniques; (iii) ageing techniques; and (iv) the estimation of diet and consumption rates. The target audience will include Committee members and Southern Hemisphere cetacean researchers who will have the opportunity to learn about these research techniques and their application to specific Southern Hemisphere research and conservation issues. The associated workshops will provide an opportunity for experts from around the world to provide direct advice and support in the development and implementation of new research projects in the Southern Hemisphere. The IDCR/SOWER programme has been added to the programme in recognition of its outstanding contribution to the work of the Committee for three decades.

AWMP GRAY WHALE IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW AND GREENLAND HUNT SLA DEVELOPMENT: either La Jolla or Copenhagen, last two weeks of March 2012

The Committee has a number of priority areas related to the Greenlandic hunts and an intersessional Workshop is required ensure adequate progress to allow the highest priority work (development of SLAs) to be achieved prior to the 2017 meeting, particularly for the complex cases of common minke whales and fin whales.

The objectives of the workshop are to:

1. begin the process of developing operating models to allow the development of SLAs for West Greenland fin and common minke whales by investigating the current structure for RMP Implementations;
2. review the conditioning for the gray whale Implementation Review, review the initial results of trials and develop a final set to allow completion of the review at the 2012 annual meeting; and
3. given the major development and review work scheduled for the next 5 years, develop guidelines for Implementations and Implementation Reviews for  adoption at the 2012 Annual Meeting.

Steering Group: Donovan (Convenor), Allison, Brandon, Breiwick, Butterworth, Cooke, George, Givens, Heide-Jørgensen, Punt, Schweder, Scordino, Walløe, Witting, Zeh.

MARINE RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENTS AND CETACEANS: Panama City, 2-days prior to IWC64

 The topic of marine renewable developments (MREDs) has been considered by the Committee for several years and the rapid increase in developments across the world has been highlighted. Wind farms have greatly increased in size and are moving further offshore with considerable associated infrastructural development, including ports, service vessels and cable laying. Interactions with cetaceans are inevitable but in many respects poorly characterised. Typically adequate baseline data have not been obtained prior to developments. The Workshop will provide a forum for scientist/industry interactions on mitigation and issues of mutual concern with a focus on wind farms.

The pre-meeting workshop will consider the potential effects on cetaceans (e.g. injuries; masking; behavioural changes) available information (including modelling approaches) and mitigation measures and adaptive management to address this. The workshop will seek to develop procedures to coordinate and collate standardised effect measurements of marine renewable developments on cetaceans and it will identify research needs. Finally the workshop will formulate recommendations for research, monitoring, conservation and management.

Steering Group: Liebschner (co-Convenor), Simmonds (co-Convenor), Holm, Kock, Ritter, Baldwin, Parsons, Stachowitsch, Lusseau, Gallego, Iñíguez, Rose, Scheidat.