1994-1998 Action Plan for the Conservation of Cetaceans Dolphins, Porpoises, and Whales

Compiled by Randall R. Reeves and Stephen Leatherwood

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lUCN lUCN/SSC Cetacean Specialist Group 1994 014 c. 2 lUCN The Worid Conservation Union

1994-1998 Action Plan for the Conservation of Cetaceans Dolphins, Porpoises, and Whales

Compiled by Randall R. Reeves and Stephen Leatherwood

lUCN/SSC Cetacean Specialist Group

lUCN >\ Tha Worid Consarvstion Union SPEC its SURVIVAL COMMISMOM

i.f«i«u,<^c>™.. WWF Chic«oZoolo,itJSr< . FiMESMH^EDsnnB X,'^'„„»^ .o«iitv.i,oN lociiT, ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST Dolphins, Porpoises, and Whales: 1994-1998 was made possible through the generous support of:

Chicago Zoological Society DEJA, Inc. Greenpeace Environmental Trust Ocean Park Conservation Foundation People's Trust for Endangered Species Peter Scott lUCN/SSC Action Plan Fund (Sultanate of Oman) U.S. Marine Mammal Commission Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society World Wide Fund for Nature

© 1994 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

Reproduction of this publication for educational and other non-commercial purposes is authorized without permission from the copyright holder, provided the source is cited and the copyright holder receives a copy of the reproduced material.

Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

This document should be cited as: Reeves, R.R. and Leathenwood, S. 1994. Dolphins, Porpoises, and Whales: 1994-1998 Action Plan for the Conservation of Cetaceans. lUCN, Gland, Switzerland. 92 pp.

ISBN 2-8317-0189-9

Published by lUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Camera-ready copy by the Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, Illinois 60513, U.S.A.

Printed by Information Press, Oxford, U.K.

Cover photo: A young boto, or Amazon River dolphin, caught in a fishing net and later released alive. (Tipishca de Samiria, Peru, 8 July 1992; Stephen Leatherwood) Contents

Page Page Preface iv 4. Status of Species and Populations 18

Executive Summary v 5. Recommended Conservation Action 42 Progress and Status of Previously-Identified Acknowledgements vi Projects 42 New Projects: CSG Action Plan, 1994-1998 42 Introduction vii Critically Endangered Species (Northern Right Whale, Vaquita, Baiji, Bhulan) 42 1. Classiflcation 1 Other Platanistoids (Susu, Boto, Franciscana) 51 2. Problems Faced by Cetaceans 7 Neritic and Estuarine Species that Are Direct Exploitation 7 Vulnerable by Virtue of their Proximity Bycatches in Fisheries 8 to Human Activities (Finless Porjxjise, Competition and Culls 10 Irrawaddy Dolphin, Hump-backed Dolphins, Habitat Loss and Degradation 10 Bottlenose Dolphin, Commerson's Dolphin, Chilean Dolphin) 55 3. Possible Solutions to Cetacean Regional Projects 58 Conservation Problems 12 Documentation and Monitoring of Bycatches Role of the CSG in Cetacean Conservation 12 and Direct Catches in Artisanal Fisheries 60 Cooperation and Coordination of Effort 12 Topical Projects Affecting Several Different Inventories and Assessments of Populations 13 Species, Populations, or Areas 68 Incorporation of Cetaceans into Conservation Laws and Strategies 13 References 71 Establishment of Protected Marine and Freshwater Areas 13 Appendices 86 Enactment and Enforcement of Regulations 1. lUCN/SSC Cetacean Specialist on Harvesting 14 Group Members 86 Ensuring that any Use of Cetaceans as 2. lUCN Resolutions 88 Resources Is Sustainable 15 Reduction and Management of Environmental Pollution 16 Development or Reinstatement of Less Wasteful Fish-Harvesting Techniques 16 Preface

The previous version of the lUCN/SSC Cetacean Programme Activity Centre, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Specialist Group's Action Plan, compiled by William F. Kenya [Fax: (2542) 230127]. Perrin (first published in 1988, revised in 1989), has been As in the past, abstracts of projects have been prepared, judged by all accounts to be a concise and useful docu­ either by CSG members or by the compilers in consulta­ ment. Thus we have followed Perrin's basic approach and tion with members and other colleagues familiar with the format. While the present version of the Action Plan is problems being addressed. The draft text of the entire more than merely a revised edition of its predecessor, it Action Plan was circulated to CSG members for review, is also intended to reflect continuity with previous work. and their comments and suggested changes were consid­ Many of the section headings in the present document ered in producing the final version. Since it would have are the same as those used by Perrin. We have expanded been all but impossible to achieve consensus among all the scope of the section "Status of Species and CSG members on every point, the compilers had to make Populations." The list of national agencies, research insti­ some of their own decisions about what to include or tutions, and conservation organizations in problem areas, omit. Thus, we accept full responsibility for any errors which appeared as Appendix 2 in Perrin (1988,1989), has of fact or judgment, and we welcome corrections and been dropped. Readers interested in locating such agen­ additions from readers. cies, institutions, and organizations should consult the This document is intended to stimulate and guide action published list of marine mammal specialists that will prevent cetacean extinctions and support the (NOAA/IUCN/UNEP 1988; soon to be updated) and the recovery of depleted populations worldwide. Just as the directory of marine mammal databases (Klinowska 1992), processes that threaten cetaceans are complex and diverse, both of which are available from the United Nations the actions taken to reverse or control these processes must Environment Programme, Oceans and Coastal Areas/ be carefully considered, dynamic, and broad-based.

IV Executive Summary

The mammalian order Cetacea, including the whales, dol­ Action Plan. It identifies the major known threats to phins, and porpoises, has at least 79 species and is repre­ species and populations, discusses some of the technical, sented in all oceans and some large river systems of Asia political, and economic changes that are needed to prevent and South America. Most populations of large whales further population declines and promote population recov­ and many populations of medium-sized and small eries, and briefly summarizes the status of each species. cetaceans have been heavily hunted for their oil, meat, The core of this Action Plan consists of 51 projects baleen, and other products. This direct exploitation has that are high priorities for conservation-related research. led to severe depletion of such species as the blue whale, Eleven of the projects relate explicitly to critically endan­ fin whale, humpback, bowhead, and right whales. Certain gered species—the northern right whale, baiji, and bhu- local or regional populations of belugas, harbor porpoises, lan. Another ten concern platanistoid dolphins other than striped dolphins, and river dolphins have also been seri­ the baiji and bhulan—the boto, susu, and fransciscana. ously reduced. During the past 30 years, high-seas fish­ Eight projects involve populations or species of small eries for tuna, salmon, and squid have killed millions of cetaceans that, because of their nearshore distribution, cetaceans as a bycatch. Coastal net and trap fisheries for are especially vulnerable to the effects of human activi­ fish and crustaceans have also caused the depletion of ties. The rest of the projects are either regional in scope, cetacean populations. covering areas where cetacean conservation problems are The first Cetacean Action Plan was published by the suspected, or topical, covering subjects that relate to sev­ Cetacean Specialist Group (CSG) in 1988. It included 45 eral different species and areas. The project summaries projects that were considered high priorities for cetacean are expected to help governments, conservation organi­ conservation. Nearly all of these projects related to popu­ zations, and individual donors to set funding priorities, lations of small and medium-sized cetaceans which were and to help researchers and activists allocate their ener­ not being adequately conserved through national laws or gies and resources. As in the previous version, our international agreements (e.g. the International Whaling emphasis is on populations that are not adequately pro­ Commission). Since 1988, some of the original projects tected under some kind of national or international con­ have been completed and many others are in some stage of servation regime. Most of the projects are centered in implementation. The present document is in many respects Asia, Latin America, or Africa, where financial and tech­ a revised, expanded, and updated version of the 1988 nical support for conservation is critically needed. Acknowledgements

The CSG was established in the 1960s, with Masaharu International, Oceans Unlimited, Peter Scott lUCN/SSC Nishiwaki as its first chairman and Sidney Brown as Action Plan Fund, and John R. Twiss, Jr. deputy chairman. After a brief period in the mid-1970s Like other lUCN/SSC specialist groups, the CSG relies when it was combined with other specialist groups to form on host organizations for office space and basic adminis­ the Marine Mammal Specialist Group, the CSG was re­ trative support. Both were provided by the U.S. National formed in 1979, with Michael Tillman as chairman. Marine Fisheries Service through its Southwest Fisheries William Perrin assumed the chair in 1984 and was joined Science Center, La Jolla, California, through August 1991 by Leatherwood as deputy chairman in 1989. Leather- and again from January 1993 through February 1994, and wood was appointed chairman in 1991 following Perrin's by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, resignation. Reeves was appointed deputy chairman early Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, from in 1992. September 1991 through 1992. Effective February 15, We are indebted to Bill Perrin for his central role in 1994, the office was relocated to Hong Kong, where it is shaping the CSG, compiling the group's first Action Plan, sponsored by the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation. and taking an advisory role in the preparation of this new The Chairman's address is: Stephen Leatherwood, version. From the start and throughout, Bob Brownell has lUCN/SSC Cetacean Specialist Group, Ocean Park taken a special interest in CSG activities, and he has made Conservation Foundation, Aberdeen, Hong Kong, Phone important contributions to this Action Plan. The compilers (+852) 873-8650, Fax (852) 553-8302. The Deputy could not have completed this project without the major Chairman's address is: Randall Reeves, lUCN/SSC financial support of Greenpeace Environmental Trust, the Cetacean Specialist Group, 27 Chandler Lane, Hudson, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), and Quebec, Canada JOP IHO, Phone or Fax (+1) 514-458- the Peter Scott lUCN/SSC Action Plan Fund. Partial sup­ 7383. Additional administrative support was provided by port for printing of the Action Plan came from the U.S. Greenpeace Environmental Trust, the U.S. State Marine Mammal Commission. It should also be noted that Department, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Greenpeace, WDCS, the U.S. Department of State, and the and the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission. Since 1990, United Nations Environment Programme contributed sub­ CSG funds have been administered gratis by CMC in stantially to several projects identified as critical in the first Washington, D.C. Action Plan. Additional funding for CSG projects was pro­ We are grateful for the many contributions made to the vided by the following organizations and individuals: routine business of the CSG and to this Action Plan by Blum-Kovler Foundation, Center for Marine Conservation other CSG members. Their willingness to devote time and (CMC), Chicago Zoological Society, Earthtrust, Earth thought to our requests for advice and assistance testifies to Island Institute, Maijorie Y. Crosby, Abbie Wells, Willace their individual commitments to cetacean conservation. D. Hill, Paul and Billie Karcher, U.S. Marine Mammal We also thank Tim Sullivan, Simon Stuart, and Mariano Commission, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service Gimenez-Dixon for providing various other kinds of (NMFS), American Cetacean Society, Cetacean Society advice and support.

VI Introduction

The challenge before the Cetacean Specialist Group it impossible to investigate trends in these stocks. In the (CSG), and indeed before most of the lUCN/SSC special­ 1980s and early 1990s, direct exploitation has not posed an ist groups, was well defined by Katona (1991:298) in his immediate threat to most endangered whale populations, discussion of planning for the recovery of humpback but accidental mortality in fishing gear, reduction of prey whale populations: "... management of the humpback due to competitive harvesting by humans, and pollution whale or of any endangered species cannot be regarded have emerged as potential threats that give cause for con­ as a task to complete. While there may be some actions tinuing concern. that need to be accomplished only once, for example des­ There is still much interest in the conservation of the ignating certain locations as sanctuaries for the species, great whales. The high public profile of commercial whal­ other actions may need to be overseen or repeated for­ ing ensures that governments, non-governmental organi­ ever, or until a decision is taken that the species should zations (NGOs), and inter-governmental organizations not be protected." (IGOs) will continue to apply pressure on the whaling It can still be stated that humans have not caused the nations to eliminate whaling altogether or to keep harvests extinction of any cetacean species. However, this is a ten­ within sustainable limits and protect at least some popula­ tative and somewhat hollow claim. Surviving wild popu­ tions. The CSG membership has always been well repre­ lations of at least four species (baiji, vaquita, northern right sented in the IWC's Scientific Committee as well as in whale, and bhulan) are in the low to mid-hundreds, and in many of the relevant governmental agencies, NGOs, and the cases of the baiji and the vaquita, a declining trend is other IGOs. Many members therefore have been involved thought to be continuing. Some populations of other directly in the work of developing an effective regime for species have been exterminated or very greatly depleted, large-whale conservation. e.g. the Atlantic gray whale (extinct) and the eastern spin­ The first CSG Action Plan deliberately redirected the ner dolphin in the Pacific (reduced to about a third of its attentions and energies of conservationists from the com­ population size in the 1950s). mercially exploited great whales to the smaller cetaceans Conservationists and scientists campaigned for many (also see Brownell et al. 1989), and the present Action years to bring the direct exploitation of large cetaceans Plan continues the emphasis on river dolphins and coastal under effective control, largely by changing the policies populations of marine species. With the possible excep­ of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Right tion of the northern right whale, these groups encompass whales and bowheads have been protected from commer­ the most critically endangered species whose exceptional cial whaling under international law since 1935 (although vulnerability is often tied to a geographically restricted with some well-known violations; e.g. Best 1988), gray range, a relatively narrow ecological niche, and a depen­ whales since 1946 (Reeves 1984), humpbacks and blue dence on resources that are also used by humans. whales since the mid 1960s (Best 1993). The worldwide The survival of river dolphins depends on the health of moratorium on commercial whaling which took effect major river systems in less developed countries. These beginning in 1986 can be seen as the most recent in a long dolphins are in direct competition with humans for the line of protective measures. necessities of life: food and fresh water. Whether it is to There is now reason for cautious optimism about the control flooding, support irrigation, or produce electrical status and future of certain populations of large whales (cf. power, the impetus for dams, barrages, embankments, and Best 1993). For example, right whales in the South other river modifications grows relentlessly. These struc­ Atlantic (Best 1990, Payne et al. 1990), humpbacks off tures fragment populations of dolphins and their prey and Australia (Paterson and Paterson 1989, Bannister et al. reduce the amount of suitable habitat available to them. 1991), gray whales in the eastern North Pacific (Buckland Moreover, the drive toward economic development et al. 1993c), and possibly blue whales in the eastern North through industrialization, coupled with rapid growth in Pacific (Barlow 1994) have shown signs of steady recov­ human populations, has meant that rivers must absorb ery under protection. Some stocks, however, such as those ever-increasing amounts of waste products, while at the of right whales in the North Pacific (Scarff 1991), bow- same time they are expected to produce larger and larger heads in the North Atlantic (Zeh et al. 1993), and blue and quantities of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks for human fin whales in the Southern Ocean (Butterworth and De consumption. Although river dolphins in many areas Decker 1990, Borchers et al. 1991), apparently remain enjoy religious, customary, or legal protection from hunt­ dangerously small, and there is no reason to be complacent ing, they face many threats, for example from accidental about their future. The lack of adequate monitoring makes fouling in fishing nets and hooks, collisions with powered

VII vessels, underwater detonations, and polluted or dimin­ the populations of both large and small cetaceans. ished food supplies. In some areas, directed takes (i.e. Concurrent with its decision in 1982 to implement a pause those where the cetacean was the fisherman's or hunter's (= "moratorium") in commercial whaling (IWC 1983), intended target) continue to occur, and there is a demand the IWC called for a "comprehensive assessment" of for river-dolphin products such as meat, oil, and repro­ whale stocks. By the end of 1993 major reviews had been ductive organs (Reeves et al. 1993a, da Silva and completed for minke whales in the Southern Hemisphere, Marmontel 1994). North Atlantic, and western North Pacific, fin whales in Coastal small cetaceans are also perceived as compet­ the North Atlantic, bowheads in the Bering, Chukchi, and ing with humans for certain resources, often with no direct Beaufort seas, and gray whales in the eastern North Pacific evidence to support such perceptions. Some populations (R. Gambell, pers. comm.). Detailed re-assessments of the have experienced high rates of mortality due to accidental bowhead and gray whale stocks, as well as certain fin entanglement in fishing gear, and in areas such as Peru (Greenland) and minke (Greenland and western North (Read et al. 1988, Van Waerebeek and Reyes in press), Pacific) stocks, were planned for the 1994 IWC meeting. Sri Lanka (Leatherwood and Reeves 1989), and the The IWC's Subcommittee on Small Cetaceans has con­ Philippines (Leatherwood e/a/. 1992, Dolar et a/. 1994, tinued its annual assessments of stocks in spite of the Dolar in press ), the bycatch has given rise to a directed Commission's ambivalence concerning its competence to catch as fishermen have become more aware of markets manage the exploitation of most small cetacean species. for cetacean meat, blubber, and organs. Culling opera­ Annual meetings of the subcommittee focus on particular tions, inspired by the perception that depredations by small species groups or regional problems, and an effort is made cetaceans are responsible for local declines in fish har­ in each case to summarize the state of knowledge and iden­ vests, continued at least until 1991 in Japan (Kasuya tify research and conservation needs. Special IWC vol­ 1985b, Anonymous 1992a, Kishiro and Kasuya 1993) and umes have been published on the genus Cephalorhynchus may continue in the Philippines (Leatherwood, unpubl. (Brownell and Donovan 1988) and the northern-hemi­ data) and Turkey (Buckland et al. 1992b). sphere pilot whales (genus Globicephala) (Donovan et al. The lUCN's Red Data Book (RDB) on cetaceans 1993), and similar volumes are currently in production on (Klinowska 1991) provides a comprehensive review of the beaked whales (family Ziphiidae), the porpoises (fam­ information on each species and is current through approx­ ily Phocoenidae), the gray whale, and the problem of imately 1989-1990. In the present document under "Status cetacean bycatches in passive nets and traps. Also of rel­ of Species and Populations" we have limited ourselves evance in the present context is the report prepared by the largely to updating rather than duplicating the RDB. Subcommittee on Small Cetaceans in 1991 as background Readers interested in more detailed background are for the United Nations Conference on Environment and encouraged to consult the RDB, available from lUCN Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 (IWC Publications Services Unit, 219 Huntingdon Road, 1992a). This report covers "small cetacean stocks sub­ Cambridge CB3 ODL, U.K. (£30) or in the U.S.A. and jected to significant directed and incidental takes" and pro­ Canada from Island Press, Box 7, Covelo, California vides, in each case, a review of current status and a list of 95428 (U.S. $55 in 1993). research and management recommendations. It is avail­ In addition to the RDB, the IWC's report series pro­ able from the IWC (The Red House, Station Road, Histon, vides a wealth of information on the biology and status of Cambridge, United Kingdom, CB4 4NP).

VIII Chapter 1 Classification

Figure 1. The clymene dolphin Is endemic to the tropical North Atlantic. Three of the five recognized species in the genus Stenella have pantroplcal distributions; the clymene dolphin and Atlantic spotted dolphin are endemic in the tropical to warm-temperate Atlantic Ocean. (Gulf of Mexico).

One new species of beaked whale, the pygmy beaked considered monospecific, has recently been subdivided wha\e, Mesoplodon peruvianus, was recently described into two species, the long-beaked common dolphin, and named (Reyes etal. 1991; also see Ralls and Browneli Delphinus capensis, and the short-beaked common dol­ 1991), and additional ziphiid species remain to be identi­ phin, De/p/j//jM.v Chile (K. Van recently stabilized after several decades of revision. Other Waerebeek, pers. comm.). The genus Delphinus, long groups, such as the delphinid genus Sousa (Ross et al. Figure 2. Hump-backed dolphins off West Africa (A), in the northern Indian Ocean (B), and in the western Pacific (C) are tentatively recognized as distinct "geographical groups" (Ross et al. 1994). A systematic review of the genus Sousa is badly needed. The impacts of fishery bycatches on the populations of these nearshore dolphins need to be investigated in many places. (A: 120 km north of Nouakchott, Mauritania, November 1991; B: Indus Delta, Pakistan; C: Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong.)

Figure 2A.

1994; Fig. 2), have yet to be studied adequately. gered populations as well as species in the CSG Action Mainstream classification of cetaceans is relatively Plan. The example that he discussed was the morpholog­ undeveloped below the species level. This is not so ically distinct population of Cephalorhynchus commer- much because of a lack of variation within species but sonii from the Kerguelen Island area of the southern Indian because of limited sampling and the generally cautious Ocean (Robineau 1983, 1986). This population is geo­ attitude of some cetacean systematists. Diminutive graphically separate from the other population(s) of the forms of the blue whale (Ichihara 1966, Omura 1984), species in the western South Atlantic (Goodall et al. the Bryde's whale (Ohsumi 1978, Wada and Numachi 1988a). There are many other examples of populations 1991), and the minke whale (Best 1985, Arnold et al. with varying degrees of recognized distinctiveness other 1987) have been documented, and trinomials have been than, or in addition to, their geographical isolation. In the proposed (but not universally adopted) for the first and case of killer whales off British Columbia and last of these. In the case of minke whales there are at Washington, two separate populations are .sympatric but least three morphologically distinct forms in the world apparently "socially isolated" from each other (Ford oceans, but their status as races, subspecies, or separate 1991). These populations differ not only in morphology, species still needs to be clarified (cf. Best 1985, Wada social behavior, feeding habits, and movements, but aLso in etal. 1991). The spinner dolphin has three well-defined their vocal repertories. subspecies (Perrin 1990). In this Action Plan we have continued to call attention The world's cetaceans are listed in Table 1 (see Mead to populations as well as entire species under threat, on and Brownell 1993). The only significant changes to the the understanding that in such cases "potentially signifi­ list given by Perrin (1989) are (1) the addition of cant genetic variability and unique components of regional Mesoplodon peruvianus, (2) the inclusion of two (rather ecosystems" may be at risk (Perrin 1989). More popula­ than one) species of Delphinus, and (3) several revisions or tions exist than are presently recognized, and .some of the additions to the English vernacular names. as-yet-unrecognized populations are likely to be endan­ Perrin (1989) provided a rationale for including endan­ gered or threatened. Figure 2B.

Figure 2C. Table 1 Classification of the living cetaceans, order Cetacea (following Perrin 1989, with Red Data Book listings from Klinowska 1991: E=:endangered, V=:vuinerable, i=lnsufficiently known, U=unclassified).

Suborder Odontoceti

Superfamily Platanistoldea

Family Platanistidae Platanista gangetica (V) Ganges River dolphin, susu Platanista minor (E) Indus River dolphin, bhulan

Family Pontoporitdae

Subfamily Upotinae Upotes vexiirrfer (E) Baiji, Yangtze River dolphin

; Subfamily Pontoporiinae Pontoporia blainvillei (1) Franciscana, cachimbo, La Plata dolphin

Family Iniidae Inia geoffrensis (V) Boto, bufeo Colorado, tonina, Amazon River dolphin

Superfamily Delphinoldea

Family Monodontidae

Subfamily Delphinapterinae Delphinapterus leucas (1) White whale, beluga, belukha

Subfamily Monodontinae Monodonmonoceros (1) Nanwhal

Family Phocoenldae

Subfamily Phocoeninae Phocoena phocoena (1) Harbor porpoise Phocoena spinipinnis (1) Burmeister's porpoise Phocoena sinus (E) Vaquita, Gulf of California porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides (1) Finless porpoise

Subfamily Phocoenojdinae Australophocaena diaptrica (1) Spectacled porpoise Phocoenoides daOi (1) Dall's porpoise

Family Oelphinidae

Subfamily Steninae Steno bredanensis (1) Rough-toothed dolphin Sousa chinensis (!) Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphin Sousa teuszii (1) Atlantic hump-backed dolphin SotaHa fluviatHis (1) Tucuxi, bufeo negro, bufeo gris

Subfamily Delphininae Lagenorhynchus albirostris (1) VWiite-beaked dolphin Lagenorhynchus acutus (1) Atlantic white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus obscurus (1) Dusky dolphin Lagenorhynchus obliquidens (1) Pacific white-sided dolphin Lagenoifiynchus cnidger {!) Hourglass dolphin Lagenorhynchus australis (1) Peale's dolphin Grampus griseus (1) Risso's dolphin, grampus Tursiops truncatus (1) Bottlenose dolphin Stenella frontalis (1) Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella attenuata 0) Pantropical spotted dolphin Stenella longirostris (1) Spinner dolphin Stenella clymene (1) Clymene dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba (1) Striped dolphin Delphinus delphis (1) Short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus capensis Lxing-beaked common dolphin (not in RDB; should be listed asl) Lagenodelphis hosei (1) Fraser's dolphin

Subfamily Lissodelphinae Lissodelphls borealls (1) Northern right whale dolphin Ussodelphis peronii (1) Southern right whale dolphin

Subfamily Orcaellinae Orcaella brevirostris (1) trrawaddy dolphin, pesut

Subfamily Cephalorhynchinae Cephaiorhynchus commersonii (!) Commerson's dolphin Cephaiorhynchus eutropia (1) Chilean dolphin Cephaiorhynchus heavlstdii (I) Heaviside's dolphin Cephaiorhynchus hectori Hector's dolphin (Indeterminate; CSG recommended relisting as V)

Subfamily GloWcephalinae Peponocephala electra (1) Melon-headed whale Feresa attenuata (1) Pygmy killer whale Pseudorca crassidens (1) False killer whale Orcinus orca (1) Killer wfmie, orca Globicephata melas (1) Long-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus (1) Short-finned pilot whale

Superfamily Ziphioidea

Family Ziphiidae Tasmacetus shepherdi (1) Shepherd's beaked whale Berardlus bairdii (1) Baird's beaked whale Berardkis arnuxii (1) Arnoux's beaked whale Indopacetus pacificus (1) Longman's beaked whale MesopMon bidens (1) Sowerby's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris (1) Btainville's beaked whale MesopMon europaeus (1) Gervais' beaked whale Mesoplodon layardii (1) Strap-toothed whale Mesoplodon hectori (1) Hector's beaked whale Mesoplodon grayi (1) Gray's beaked whale Mesoplodon stejnegeri (1) Stejneger's beaked whale Mesoplodon t>owdoini (1) Andrews' beaked whale Mesoplodon mirus (1) True's beaked whale Mesoplodon ginkgodens (1) GJnkgo-toottied beaked whale Mesoplodon carlhubbsi (1) Hubbs' beaked whale Mesoplodon peruvianus Pygmy beaked whale (not in RDB, should be fisted asl) Ziphlus cavirostris (1) Cuvier's beaked whale Hyperoodon ampullatus (1) Northern bottlenose whale Hyperoodon planl^ons (1) Southern bottlenose whale Superfamily Physeteroidea

Family Physeteridae Physeter catodon {-P. macrocephalus) (1) Sperm whale

Family Kogiidae Kogia breviceps (1) Pygmy sperm whale Koglaslmus (1) Dwarf sperm whale

Suborder IMysticeti

Family Balaenidae Balaena mysticetus (V) Bowhead whale Eubalaena australis (V) Southern right whale Eubalaena gladatis (E) Northern right whale

Family NeobalaenkJae Caperea marginata (1) Pygmy right whale

Family Eschiichtiidae Eschrichtius robustus (U) Gray whale

Family Balaenopteridae

Subfamily Balaenopterinae Balaenoptera acutorostrata (1) Minke whale Balaenoptera borealis (V) Sei whale Balaenoptera edeni (1) Bryde's whale Balaenoptera musculus (E) Blue whale II Balaenoptera physalus (V) Fin whale

Subfam ily Megapterinae Megaptera novaeangliae (V) Humpback whale Chapter 2 Problems Faced by Cetaceans

Direct Exploitation Without controls of some sort, the growing demand for products can lead to overexploitation in both subsistence In the history of commercial whaling there are many and commercial hunting regimes. The regulation of direct examples in which direct exploitation caused cetacean exploitation requires a management procedure that is populations to decline. The great whales were sequentially adaptive in nature and founded upon agreed objectives. overexploited, beginning with the easiest to catch and most Such a procedure must take account of the likely nature profitable species (balaenids, humpback, gray whale, and of the data that will be available, and in particular of the sperm whale) and ending with the elusive but valuable uncertainty surrounding the data. The regular collection of blue, fin, sei, Bryde's, and minke whales that could only be data during exploitation should be required, and the new taken regularly once steam-powered vessels and harpoon information should be used to fine-tune the procedure so cannons had become widely available. The smaller and that it more nearly meets its objectives. A mechanism for medium-sized cetaceans have also been taken in many ensuring that all participants in the exploitive regime areas—for food, oil, leather, bait, and other uses. Direct adhere to an agreed set of rules is, of course, essential. The exploitation is usually driven by the demand for products, recent disclosure that Soviet commercial whale catches in whether this means food to be consumed or exchanged at the Southern Ocean were grossly under-reported the local, household level ("subsistence"—see Freeman (Yablokov 1994) demonstrates the need for an effective 1993; Fig. 3), or meat, oil, and other commodities to be international observer scheme or some other way of veri­ sold in national and international markets ("commercial"). fying catch data.

Figure 3. (A) A whaler demonstrates the technique used by the people of Lamalera, Lembata Island, Indonesia, to harpoon sperm whales (B) and other cetaceans. The Inughuit, or Polar Eskimos, in the munici­ pality of Avanersuaq (Thule), northwestern Greenland, still use kayaks and hand har­ poons to capture narwhals (C) (Inglefield Bredning, August 1987). In both Indonesia and Greenland, food is the princi­ pal product of whale hunting.

Figure 3A Figure 3B

Bycatches in Fisheries Yoshida 1965) but not widely publicized until the mid 1970s (Ohsumi 1975), many additional cases have been Although some incidental mortality of cetaceans has identified, such as the Italian swordfish driftnet fishery in occurred in fishing activities for a very long time, the sig­ the Mediterranean Sea (Notarbartolo di Sciara 1990) and nificant contributions of such mortality to the depletion of the French tuna driftnet fishery in the northeastern Atlantic cetacean populations have only been recognized during the (Goujon et al. 1993). Also, during the 1980s the scope of past 25 years. We are not aware of any instance before the North Pacific drift gillnet problem widened, with more the mid to late 1960s in which the magnitude of bycatches nations becoming involved, additional target species being was considered great enough to threaten populations. taken such as squid, billfish, and tuna, and bycatches com­ Alarm over the killing of dolphins in the eastern tropical ing to include other cetacean species such as northern right Pacific tuna fishery (perhaps as many as seven million whale dolphins and Pacific white-sided dolphins (IWC since the late 1950s; IWC 1992a) stirred interest in other 1992a). Trawlers working in the Bay of Biscay are sus­ forms of "incidental" mortality. The tuna-dolphin problem pected of making large bycatches of small cetaceans (A. is in fact best viewed as a case of deliberate utilization, Collet, pers. comm.). In most cases, the cetaceans that since the dolphin herds are chased and captured in the die are regarded as nuisances by the fishermen. Time and purse seines in order to capture the schools of tuna associ­ effort are required to extricate the cetacean carcasses, and ated with them (see National Research Council 1992). fishing gear and catches are sometimes damaged. Since The first large-scale bycatch to have become well the carcasses of incidentally caught animals are usually known to cetologists, other than the kill of oceanic dol­ discarded at sea, they provide no economic return and are phins in the tuna fishery, was that of Dall's porpoises in the essentially "wasted." In some areas such as Peru, Sri Japanese drift gillnet fishery for salmon in the North Lanka, and the Philippines, where artisanal gillnet fisheries Pacific (Fig. 4). Since that discovery, which was actually have made large bycatches of dolphins, the salvage and made in the 1960s by Japanese investigators (Mizue and use of carcasses has led to directed fisheries for cetaceans. Figure 3C

Particularly with the proliferation of synthetic gillnets than to reducing or eliminating it. throughout the world, the bycatch problem has emerged as Concern about the expansion of large-scale driftnet one of the most serious threats to cetaceans, as well as to fishing during the 1980s led the United Nations General seabirds, turtles, fish, and other non-target organisms. It Assembly to pass Resolution 46/215, establishing an is in many respects less tractable and more insidious than indefinite global moratorium on the use of large-scale the problem of direct harvests. Useful estimates of total driftnets outside the 200-mile limit or exclusive economic kills and kill rates have proven difficult to obtain. zone (EEZ) of any country after December 31, 1992. Technical approaches, such as deployment of warning Although no major violations were reported to the United devices in netting and modifications in floats, weights, and Nations in 1993, implementation of this ban needs to be characteristics of the netting, are unlikely to eliminate the closely monitored. Numerous reports of unauthorized bycatch problem; seasonal or year-round closure of gill- high-seas driftnet fishing in the Mediterranean Sea by ves­ net fisheries is in many cases the only effective solution sels flying Italian and other flags have continued to be (Dawson 1991a; also see Au and Jones 1991). The devel­ made by the media and by NGOs (cf. Pitt 1994). Also, opment and implementation of fishery regulations have, in the moratorium has caused some fleets formerly involved general, been politically controversial and slow. The clos­ in large-scale driftnetting on the high seas to move their ing of certain critical areas to coastal gillnetting opera­ operations into the EEZs of countries such as Japan and tions (e.g. the sanctuary near Banks Peninsula, New Russia. Cetacean bycatches will obviously continue and Zealand; the ban on large-mesh totoaba nets in the upper thus require continued monitoring. Gulf of California, Mexico) has helped. Nonetheless, in Several individuals and groups on the east coast of most cases in which significant fishing-related mortality of Canada and the United States have mounted effective "res­ cetaceans occurs within the fisheries jurisdictions of cue" operations directed mainly at large whales. Jon Lien coastal states, effort to date has been devoted primarily to and associates at Memorial University of Newfoundland documenting the size and character of the bycatch rather were notified of 1,084 entrapments of large cetaceans Leatherwood e/a/. 1990). Some scientists and resource managers have developed and advocated the argument that the routine culling of cetaceans (and other marine mam­ mals, notably seals) is integral to "ecosystem manage­ ment" (Hoel 1990). Thus far, the argument has been applied mainly in the context of Norway's resumption of commercial whaling for minke whales and continuation of seal harvesting in the North Atlantic. The idea of multi- species or ecosystem management, however intellectually satisfying, is in practice very difficult to implement in view of the complexity and dynamism of natural systems and the imperfect understanding of how they function.

Figure 4. Many tens of thousands of Dall's porpoises have been killed in drift gillnets deployed in the northern North Pacific and southern Bering Sea, mainly to catch salmon and squid.

between 1979 and 1992; of this number, 773 involved humpbacks. Most were found in cod traps and ground- fish gillnets. Only about 15% of the humpbacks died; most either escaped or were successfully released (Jon Lien, in litt., June 1993). Workers at the Center for Coastal Studies on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, have released about 14 entangled whales of various species since 1984 (Kathy Shorr, in litt., May 1993), and at least ten sperm whales have been released from drift gillnets off Italy and France during the past five years (Di Natale 1992). Less widely publicized efforts have been made elsewhere to rescue whales and dolphins from both natural and human-caused difficulties (see Norris 1992:8, 21; Fig. 5). Figure 5. A rescue operation at Rio Javaes, Brazil, in which botes were moved from a low-water entrapment into safer waters. Competition and Culls The belief that cetaceans compete with humans for har- vestable aquatic and marine resources has prompted the initiation of culling operations in some instances, e.g. Habitat Loss and Degradation white whales in the St. Lawrence River, eastern Canada (Vladykov 1944), killer whales in Iceland (Mitchell 1975) It is generally assumed that as environments are modified and Greenland (Heide-J0rgensen 1988), and various odon- and contaminated by human activities, wild organisms tocetes in Japan (Kasuya 1985b, Kishiro and Kasuya dependent for their survival on an unspoiled habitat suf­ 1993). In other instances, the claim that whales are in fer. It has long been recognized that the loss and degrada­ competition with fisheries has been used to buttress eco­ tion of habitat could have serious consequences for nomic incentives for commercial harvests (cf. Christensen cetacean populations (Reeves 1977, Nishiwaki and Sasao 1982, 0ien 1988). In some areas, fishermen continue to 1977, Norris and Reeves 1978). It has nevertheless proven kill cetaceans in retaliation for competition over resources difficult to define and document the effects of human (whether real or only perceived) and for damage to fish­ activities other than outright killing. During the past two ing gear (cf. Melteff and Rosenberg 1984, Schlais 1984, decades these effects have been examined in a concen-

10 trated manner for only a few sp)ecies. (PCBs) are of particular concern (Kannan et al. 1993, Beginning with the work of G. Pilleri in the Indian sub­ Aguilar and Borrell in press). In the absence of experi­ continent during the late 1960s and early 1970s (Pilleri mental evidence, it has been impossible to link chemical 1970,1975), world attention has been drawn to the impacts contamination unequivocally to impaired health of the of water development projects on river dolphins. Little is cetaceans. However, some organochlorines are known to known about what characteristics make a particular reach interfere with both the hormonal and immune systems of of river suitable as habitat for dolphins (cf. Smith 1993); other mammals, and high levels (in excess of 100 mg/kg) nor is much known about the particular ways that vessel of these compounds have been associated with reproduc­ traffic, riverbank development, damming, and embank­ tive abnormalities and complex disease syndromes in ments affect these animals. However, it is clear that large- some marine mammals (Brouwereffl/. 1989, UNEP 1991, scale withdrawals of water for human use reduce the Anonymous 1992b). Besides the possible indirect effects amount of habitat available to the dolphins, and that dams on populations resulting from reproductive impairment or fragment dolphin populations and affect many of the eco­ reduced disease resistance in individuals, some pollutants logical processes critical to their survival (Perrin et al. (or their breakdown and combustion products) are toxic, 1989a, Reeves and Leatherwood 1994). The process of and high levels could be lethal. The role of environmen­ habitat loss and degradation has played a major role in the tal pollution in increasing the extinction probabilities for endangerment of river dolphins, and in some areas it may some cetacean species and stocks is likely to remain an be even more critical than direct and incidental killing (cf. important area of conservation research for many years. Perrin et al. 1989a, Reeves et al. 1993a). Reported pollutant levels in mysticetes indicate that these animals are generally less contaminated than odontocetes The conflicting interests of Alaskan Eskimo whalers by an order of magnitude (O'Shea and Brownell in press). and developers drew attention to the lack of understand­ Die-offs of bottlenose dolphins in the North Atlantic ing of how underwater noise affects cetaceans. This led, and Gulf of Mexico (Geraci 1989, Hansen 1992), striped during the 1980s and early 1990s, to an unprecedented, dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea (Aguilar and Raga massive effort to study the effects of large-scale industrial 1993), harbor porpoises in the Black Sea (Birkun et al. operations on bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea 1992), and humpback whales in a small area of the western (Richardson and Malme 1993). Whales certainly react to North Atlantic (Geraci et al. 1989) have been documented noise, but the biological significance of a particular type during the past decade (also see Simmonds 1992). An or amount of such disturbance is uncertain. Stated exceptionally large number of stranded sperm whales was another way, it is not yet possible to describe and quantify reported in Norwegian waters in 1988, and Christensen thresholds of disturbance beyond which cetaceans will (1990) noted the coincidence of these strandings with the abandon a preferred portion of their habitat or, alterna­ large die-off of seals in the North Sea (also see IWC tively, experience deleterious changes to their productiv­ 1990:147). More than 500 dolphins, at least 140 of them ity, health, or longevity. hump-backed dolphins, died along the west coast of the Although the evidence for a link between chemical pol­ Arabian Gulf in 1986 (Anonymous 1986, Ross et al. lutants and the health of cetaceans remains largely circum­ 1994), and several other smaller die-offs have occurred stantial and inferential, there is growing concern that large there since then (Preen 1991). The causes and popula­ contaminant loads can increase susceptibility to disease tion-level effects of such die-offs are poorly understood, and affect reproductive performance. Odontocete and there is an obvious need for more research on these cetaceans from many areas, particularly in the Northern subjects. There is also a need to incorporate into conser­ Hemisphere, have large body burdens of organochlorine vation planning the fact that these events occur. compounds and heavy metals. Polychlorinated biphenyls

11 Chapter 3 Possible Solutions to Cetacean Conservation Problems

Role of the CSG in CSG members often participate in the critical review of research results, and a special effort is made to ensure Cetacean Conservation that the results reach appropriate managers and politicians. CSG members are themselves often involved in conduct­ The Cetacean Specialist Group (CSG) is one of more than ing field work, interpreting results, and presenting findings 100 specialist groups supporting the Species Survival in decision-making fora. Commission (SSC) in its efforts to identify critical con­ Because one important goal of the CSG is to encour­ servation needs and initiate programs to conserve biologi­ age local and national initiatives, every reasonable effort is cal diversity and endangered species worldwide. Like made to ensure that principal investigators for projects are most other sjsecialist groups, the CSG is a voluntary coali­ from the country or region where the problem exists, and tion of working scientists and managers. that such involvement takes place at the earliest possible There have been misconceptions about what the CSG is stages of a project's planning and execution. The CSG and what role it plays in cetacean conservation. We also strives to promote and encourage the development of emphasize that the CSG is not a primary source of project local expertise and useful, appropriate infrastructure. funding. The group has no base funding or permanent In addition to its primary function of developing and endowment to support its activities. Unlike some other implementing the Action Plan, the CSG: (1) represents specialist groups, the CSG does not hold regular meetings lUCN, as funding permits, in national, regional, and but instead conducts business by phone, fax, and mail. international fora where cetacean conservation is under Nor does it have a complicated hierarchical structure as consideration; (2) offers scientific advice on lUCN do some professional societies. The group, currently con­ policies related to cetacean conservation; and (3) sisting of a chairman, deputy chairman, and 65 members in responds to requests by lUCN for assistance in han­ 27 countries, functions primarily as a catalyst, clearing­ dling aspects of public information (e.g. publications, house, and facilitator for research and conservation action. letters, press releases). Effort is made to identify and define the most urgent prob­ lems affecting cetaceans, then to find groups or individuals capable of addressing those problems. Proposals, some solicited and some not, are received by the CSG and cir­ Cooperation and culated to the membership for review. Suggestions for revision are collated by the chairman or deputy chairman Coordination of Effort and conveyed to the proponent. Once it has been agreed Cooperation with other conservation bodies is essential for by consensus (as interpreted by the CSG officers) that a the CSG to function. There is a growing number of bilat­ proposed project is scientifically sound and fits within the eral and multilateral conventions, agreements, and advi­ CSG Action Plan, the proposal receives CSG endorse­ sory bodies that directly or indirectly contribute to the ment, and the chairman and deputy chairman assist the conservation of cetaceans. A partial list includes: proponent in the search for financial support. In general, Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the proposals that involve work mainly in developed coun­ Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS), Canada-Greenland tries, or that are already incorporated into national or Joint Commission on the Conservation of Narwhal and regional conservation programs, are not viewed as priori­ Beluga, North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission ties for CSG action. (NAMMCO), Alaska-Inuvialuit Beluga Whale Com-

12 mittee, Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Inventories and Assessments Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals of Populations (Bonn Convention), Convention on International Trade in Knowledge about the size, structure, and status (trends in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the abundance and distribution, through time) of cetacean pop­ Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (lATTC; the ulations is central to informed programs of conservation. "La Jolla Agreement"), and the IWC. A draft Agreement Therefore, the CSG encourages all nations to carry out on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the investigations of the cetacean populations within their Mediterranean and the Black Seas and Contiguous Waters jurisdictions. This is viewed as a first step toward identi­ was being negotiated (under the Bonn Convention) in late fying and developing solutions to conservation problems. 1993. Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile Even in areas where no problem is known or suspected to adopted an Action Plan for the Conservation of Marine exist at present, it is important to develop a sound base­ Mammals of the Southeast Pacific in 1991 (CPPS/ line of information. When such a baseline is missing, it PNUMA 1992, Vidal 1992), and in early 1993 UNEP becomes very difficult to define, measure, and manage began implementation of this plan (O. Vidal, pers. comm.). conservation problems. Also in 1991, an Action Plan for the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Mediterranean Sea was adopted by con­ tracting parties to the Barcelona Convention. The South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Incorporation of Cetaceans under the aegis of UNEP, has been developing a similar program for areas under its purview. These action plans into Conservation Laws complement the CSG's. and Strategies The CSG has a special relationship with the United In many countries, aquatic mammals, including cetaceans, Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). CSG officers are not considered in national or provincial/state laws and often represent lUCN at annual meetings of the Planning conservation strategies. In many others the terms under and Coordinating Committee of the Marine Mammal which activities affecting cetaceans are regulated have not Action Plan (MMAP), for which UNEP's Oceans and been modified to reflect recent improvements in knowl­ Coastal Areas Programme Activity Centre provides the edge about these animals' biology and behavior. The CSG secretariat. Participation in these meetings, and in other encourages all nations to recognize that cetaceans have a MMAP-related activities, gives opportunities for CSG place in healthy marine and freshwater ecosystems, and input to the cetacean conservation work of UNEP, the to take steps to ensure that they receive due consideration Fisheries Department of the UN Food and Agriculture in conservation programs and strategies. Protective legis­ Organization, and various nongovernmental organizations lation is not, by itself, adequate for ensuring population such as Greenpeace, World Wide Fund for Nature, Whale recovery or preventing population decline. Enforcement, and Dolphin Conservation Society, and International Fund public education, and scientific monitoring are necessary for Animal Welfare. It also facilitates coordinated imple­ elements of any meaningful conservation initiative. mentation of the MMAP and the CSG Action Plan. Under the lUCN umbrella, the CSG seeks to coordinate its own activities with those of other specialist groups. For example, recently CSG representatives participated in a Establishment of Protected Population and Habitat Viability Assessment Workshop Marine and Freshwater Areas on the baiji, organized and led by the Captive Breeding Specialist Group. CSG members also contributed to the The creation of national parks, reserves, and sanctuaries development of a policy document prepared by the has long been one approach to conserving populations of Specialist Group on Sustainable Use of Wild Species and terrestrial species. Few marine and riverine areas have offered advice to the Veterinary Specialist Group on dis­ been set aside for special protection. More should be, par­ eases which are known or suspected to be factors in regu­ ticularly where diversity is high and where it is reason­ lating wild cetacean populations. There is much potential able to expect effective enforcement. Examples of for collaboration with these and other specialist groups, existing sanctuaries for cetaceans are the dolphin reserve including those defined by taxa (e.g. Polar Bear, Otter, in a portion of the Indus River, Sind province, Pakistan, Pinniped, Sirenia, Marine Turtles) and those by "disci­ declared in the mid 1970s; the National Marine Mammal plines" (e.g. Veterinary, Trade, Reintroduction). Sanctuary on Silver Bank, a major calving ground for

13 humpback whales, declared by the Dominican Republic rich area contains a diverse and abundant cetacean fauna in 1986; the whale sanctuaries in Golfo San Jose, and apparently has not, thus far, been subjected to much Argentina (southern right whales), and Laguna Ojo de of the expanding and destructive fishing (e.g., muro ami, Liebre (Scammon's Lagoon), Mexico (gray whales); and dynamite, poison) that is typical elsewhere in the the Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary off the New Philippines (Leatherwood et al. 1994). In June 1993 the England coast of the United States, an important feeding Mexican government declared a Biosphere Reserve that area for humpback whales and other marine mammals. includes the upper Gulf of California, to protect the vaquita In 1990 the Italian government established a protected and other endangered wildlife species (Vidal 1993). zone for cetaceans and swordfish in the Ligurian Sea, in Protection of cetaceans is probably more likely to be effec­ which fishing with drift gillnets is forbidden to Italian fish­ tive when embedded in broader-based initiatives like these ermen (Orsi Relini et al. 1992). than when areas are set aside to protect single species or In 1979 the IWC designated waters in the Indian Ocean species groups. north of the Antarctic Convergence (55° S) as a whale Protection of an area is meaningless unless the restric­ sanctuary. In effect, this designation only protects the tions on human activities have legitimacy in the eyes of large whales (including the minke whale) from commer­ people who live and work there, and unless the agency cial whaling; it makes no provision for protecting critical responsible for policing the area has adequate enforcement habitats or preventing pollution (Leatherwood and capabilities. The question of legitimacy must also be Donovan 1991). lUCN supported the IWC's decision in addressed with respKct to parties from outside the area who 1992 to continue the Indian Ocean Sanctuary for an indef­ would otherwise wish to exploit its protected resources. inite period. At the lUCN General Assembly in 1990 a This is particularly relevant to the case of whaling, in resolution (Recommendation 18.34) was adopted calling which both the animals and the whalers are highly mobile. for the IWC not only to continue the existing Indian Ocean Any protective regime should also include a mechanism Sanctuary, but also to consider widening its boundaries to for monitoring effectiveness and adapting to change. include the full migratory ranges of the whale populations using it. The same resolution recommended that the IWC consider creating other sanctuaries within a comprehen­ sive system for the conservation of whales. Thus lUCN Enactment and Enforcement urged the IWC to move forward in establishing a Southern of Regulations on Harvesting Ocean sanctuary and to choose the boundaries of such a sanctuary so that the full migratory ranges of the Indian In the case of commercial whaling, self-regulation is Ocean whale stocks would be included. In 1992 France clearly not a satisfactory means of conserving species and proposed that the IWC establish the entire Antarctic stocks. Most stocks of bowheads, northern and southern (waters south of 40° S) as a cetacean sanctuary. At its right whales, gray whales, and humpbacks were overex- 1994 General Assembly lUCN adopted three resolutions ploited during the free-for-all era of the 19th and early 20th pertaining to marine mammals (see Appendix 2), one of centuries. Subsequent attempts by national governments, which, "19.64 Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary," calls acting alone, to regulate whaling proved inadequate for upon all Member States of the IWC to support the proposal conserving the stocks of blue, fin, sei, and humpback for a circumpolar whale sanctuary in the Southern Ocean. whales, as did the early efforts at international regulation. Such a sanctuary was agreed at the 1994 IWC meeting. Much of the difficulty in conserving cetaceans derives An effort is being made to expand the existing from their great mobility. Many stocks cross national Humboldt Penguin National Reserve on Chafiaral Island, boundaries; some live mainly or entirely in international Chile, to include the surrounding waters and thus provide waters. Thus conservation can only be achieved, in many protection to resident bottlenose dolphins, other cetaceans, cases, through bilateral or multilateral management. pinnipeds, marine otters, and seabirds (Juan J. Capella, in The IWC, as an international treaty organization that litt., February 1993). The exceptional richness of the meets regularly, has provisions for inter-sessional work, pelagic fauna in the western Ligurian and Corsican seas offers membership to any nation, and is structured to led the governments of Italy, France, and Monaco to estab­ provide scientific advice (from the Scientific lish (Brussels, 22 March 1993) an international cetacean Committee) to politically sensitive commissioners (the sanctuary in a 70,000 km^ area (Notarbartolo di Sciara et Commission itself), is seen by many as the appropriate al. 1992). In early 1993 the Philippine Ministry of the body for managing exploitation and ensuring the con­ Environment began deliberations on a proposal to estab­ servation of cetaceans on a global basis (see Gambell lish a sanctuary for marine life, including cetaceans, in 1993). With a substantial broadening of its member­ Taiion Strait between Negros and Bohol. This biologically ship and mandate, the IWC could assume such a role.

14 However, some IWC members have consistently and Ensuring that Any Use of forcefully resisted such broadening. They maintain that the 1946 convention should be interpreted as applying Cetaceans as Resources only to the large whales (including the minke whale but Is Sustainable not some of the equally large or larger beaked whales and killer whale, for example). The term "sustainable development" has often been used There is also a deep schism within the IWC member­ in recent years as a replacement for "conservation" in the ship between pro-whaling and anti-whaling forces, and environmental lexicon. As defined and championed in this schism has brought the Commission to near collapse the Brundtland Report (World Commission on (Andresen 1993). It is axiomatic that restrictions on Environment and Development 1987), sustainable devel­ human activity are most effective, over the long term, opment offers hope that the needs and aspirations of when the people affected by them regard the restrictions human societies can be realized without irreversibly reduc­ as legitimate and fair. Whaling (or would-be whaling) ing the earth's biological diversity and productive capac­ countries do not regard many of the IWC's recent deci­ ity. The Second World Conservation Strategy defined sions as legitimate or fair. At the same time, many non- sustainable development as "improving the quality of whaling countries are deeply distrustful of any resumption human life while living within the carrying capacity of of commercial whaling, considering the legacy of overex- supporting ecosystems" (lUCN/UNEP/WWF 1991:10). ploitation of stocks and the failure of whaling companies "Sustainable use" was interpreted to mean using renew­ to disclose full information on catches (cf. Yablokov able resources "at rates within their capacity for renewal" 1994). Canada withdrew from the IWC in 1982, and (lUCN/UNEP/WWF 1991:10). The idea of sustainable Iceland followed in 1992. Norway and Japan have openly use has been interpreted by some as both necessary considered withdrawal as an option. At least one regional (human survival depends on our ability to use the earth's organization, the North Atlantic Marine Mammal resources) and beneficial for conservation (by using a Commission, has emerged as an institutional alternative to resource we create an incentive to ensure that it is perpet­ the IWC (cf.Hoel 1993). ually renewed). However, in the case of cetaceans some Restrictions on some fishing activities also need to be conservationists have argued that consumptive use (i.e. developed and enforced, not only to protect cetacean killing of the animals) is neither necessary nor beneficial. stocks but to protect the stocks of other target and non- Their arguments have been strongly challenged by some target sfjecies. One example is the Italian driftnet fishery conservationists from maritime nations in the Northern for swordfish, which regularly takes cetaceans, including Hemisphere, whose economies are largely dependent on sperm whales, Cuvier's beaked whales, and various other exploitation of marine resources. small and medium-sized species, as a bycatch Apart from the moral and ethical questions that have (Notarbartolo di Sciara 1990). Although such fishing is, in been raised, both for and against whaling, there have been principle, regulated by European Community laws to serious scientific problems with determining "safe" har­ reduce the bycatch (e.g. permissible maximum net length vest levels (i.e. removal rates that are sustainable on a is 2.5 km), strong evidence is available suggesting that long-term basis). In the case of many, if not most, large numbers of vessels continue to use nets that are 4-6 cetacean populations, any regime of sustainable use that times longer than allowed (G. Notarbartolo di Sciara, pers. might be initiated today would involve a wild population comm.). Enforcement of existing laws is inadequate. that is either (1) already below the current carrying capac­ Also, large-scale fielagic driftnet fishing is on the increase ity level due to a history of direct and indirect exploita­ in North African countries where there are no maximum- tion, (2) smaller than it was historically because of a net-length regulations. Three avenues need to be pursued reduced carrying capacity, or (3) both of these. It is gen­ if the driftnet problem in the Mediterranean Sea is to be erally agreed that management of cetacean exploitation brought under control: (a) regulations of driftnetting must should be more than mere replacement-yield management be implemented by non-European nations, (b) existing reg­ and that it should ensure that depleted populations are ulations need to be better enforced by governmental allowed to recover while non-depleted populations remain authorities, and (c) an independent monitoring program is large and unthreatened. The IWC Scientific Committee needed to check compliance and document bycatches. As has worked intensively from 1986 into the early 1990s to emphasized by IWC (1992a:207) the consequences to the develop revised management procedures (RMP) for com­ fishermen and their communities of banning driftnet fish­ mercial whaling that meet these requirements (Kirkwood ing should be studied, and a changeover to less wasteful 1992, Gambell 1993). The version of the RMP adopted by techniques should be supported and monitored. the IWC at its annual meeting in 1991 (and refined since

15 then) is a highly precautionary approach to setting catch Development or Reinstate­ limits. A stock must be fully protected when it falls below 54% of its estimated pre-exploitation abundance, and the ment of Less Wasteful eventual objective of the RMP is to maintain exploited Fish-Harvesting Techniques populations at equilibrium levels of approximately 72% of initial size. The procedure specifically takes account Less wasteful fish-harvesting techniques are at least as of the uncertainty surrounding estimates of pxjpulation size imperative for the well-being of human communities as and of vital parameters. Even the effects of a reduction in they are for the integrity and survival of stocks of carrying capacity during exploitation have been investi­ cetaceans and other top predators (not to mention the prey gated by simulation, and the RMP has been shown to be populations themselves). Unselective fish-harvesting robust to this pxjssibility. techniques are incompatible with principles of conserva­ In situations where direct exploitation occurs, it is tion. They have no place in any credible strategy for sus­ important to ensure that struck-but-lost rates are as low as tainable living. possible and that the products obtained are procured and A number of forces are responsible for the deplorable used efficiently. This does not mean that the CSG condition of many of the world's fisheries, quite apart from endorses sustainable harvesting as a preferred approach to the obvious problems of too-intensive direct exploitation cetacean conservation. However, it is recognized that in of target species and huge, unselective bycatches. some situations, especially those involving traditional har­ Burgeoning human populations increase the demand for vests for local subsistence, the immediate emphasis needs sustenance and wealth, putting ever-greater pressure on to be on ensuring sustainability rather than on imposing all of the earth's resources. The degeneration of terres­ protection. In any sustainable-use regime for cetaceans, trial environments (from overuse and abuse by humans) small margins for error are unacceptable. This is true not is forcing more people to look toward the sea for com­ only because the variability in population estimates is usu­ modities and profits. As they do, these people enter into ally large, but also because low intrinsic rates of increase competition for stocks that have already been depleted by mean long recovery times. Moreover, cataclysmic effects local and foreign fleets and environmental degradation. need to be taken into account. The large die-offs recorded Countries whose own coastal resources have diminished for some populations of odontocetes in recent years, what­ send their fleets far and wide in search of new fishing ever their causes, give added force to the argument for grounds, often on the high seas or in other nations' exclu­ extreme caution in setting catch limits for such species. sive economic zones. New technology provides the means for finding and catching fish more effectively, and this technology is available not only to the large commercial fleets but, increasingly, to the beneficiaries of foreign- Reduction and Management assistance programs in less developed countries. Thus, of Environmental Pollution artisanal fisheries, many of which may once have been sustainable or self-correcting, incorporate new techniques Pollution of freshwater and marine systems is recognized and equipment that provide short-term benefits but lead, in as a serious problem globally. Unfortunately, the the long term, to crashes in the fish stocks and to suffer­ processes of testing and measuring the effects of various ing for those people who depend on them. pollutants on wild organisms lag far behind the processes The fisheries that take cetaceans as a bycatch involve of manufacturing and releasing these substances into the various technologies, occur within a large variety of environment. Even when damaging effects are known or socio-economic contexts, and affect numerous cetacean strongly suspected to occur, the feared economic conse­ species. In some instances, there has been hope that sim­ quences of shutting down or sharply curtailing the activi­ ple and inexpensive modifications of equipment or tech­ ties of an offending industry often prevent such action. nique could reduce or eliminate cetacean mortality, while In too many instances, less developed countries have not seriously affecting the catches of target species. In become dumping grounds for noxious chemicals banned spite of research and field trials, however, such in the developed world. Broad and equitable agreements approaches have not proven effective. Any further stud­ that contain enforcement provisions are needed to con­ ies of gear modification need to incorporate rigorous trol global pollution. Concern about impacts on human experimental designs and procedures to ensure that results health should be adequate incentive for such agreements. can be evaluated statistically. In the vast majority of If it is not, then there is little cause for optimism with cases, the bycatch problem can only be effectively regard to limiting the exposure of cetaceans to environ­ addressed through concurrent investigations of alternative mental contaminants. fishing techniques and areal or seasonal closures of fish-

16 eries. The successful pilot project to reintroduce longlin- period of transition, in order to accomplish the goal of ing in Peru, where the longlines caught more sharks than reducing bycatches in a timely way. The CSG encour­ the gillnets that they replaced (Reyes 1993), provides an ages the development of new, less wasteful methods of example of an approach that should be considered and harvesting fish, or alternatively the return to traditional possibly tried elsewhere. harvesting methods (e.g. hook and line) that are less inten­ All harvesting techniques, even aquaculture, have sive, more selective, or both. Such changes are unlikely impacts on the environment, and it is important to try to to be made out of a narrow concern for cetacean conser­ avoid creating new or additional problems while address­ vation. They will require structural adjustments within ing those at hand. It should also be recognized that, in national and local economies, more enlightened foreign- some cases, governments and private donors may need to aid policies, and in some cases international agreements provide subsidies to affected fishermen, at least during a that can be enforced.

17 Chapter 4 Status of Species and Populations

Few comments are given here on species that are consid­ ered a "conservative" estimate of 450 whales in eastern ered out of immediate danger or for which there is little Canadian waters. An ongoing study centered in Isabella useful information on status. We have nevertheless Bay, northeastern Baffin Island, Canada, has provided endeavored to mention and cite some of the relevant recent important new insight concerning the Davis Strait/Baffin literature for all 79 cetacean species. (Note that the 12 cur­ Bay bowhead population (Finley 1990, Heide-J0rgensen rently recognized species in the genus Mesoplodon are and Finley 1991), and a plan to manage Isabella Bay as a treated as a group because so little is known about their sta­ sanctuary or reserve of some kind is being developed tus individually.) (Myers 1990). Some Inuit of the eastern Canadian Arctic are pressing to initiate a bowhead hunt, as did the Inuvialuit of the west­ Bowhead Whale ern Canadian Arctic in 1991 (Freeman et al. 1992) and as {Balaena mysticetus) has been proposed for Chukotka by Russian anthropolo­ gists and biologists (Krupnik 1987). A permit to take three The conservation of this species has been a major concern bowheads was in fact issued by the Russian government to of the IWC during the past 15-20 years. A cooperative the local administration of Chukotski Autonomous Okrug program of hunt management and research has been devel­ in October 1992, but no hunting took place (R. Gambell, oped in Alaska, and the prognosis for survival and recov­ pers. comm., quoting letter from Russian Embassy, ery of the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort stock appears to have London, dated 4 February 1993). improved considerably. The IWC's "comprehensive assessment" of bowheads in 1991 concluded that the recent exploitation by Alaskan Eskimos has been sustain­ Northern Right Whale able and will, if continued at the same rate, allow the (Eubalaena glacialis) Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort stock to maintain its slow recov­ ery (IWC 1992a). The three-year quota for 1992-1994 was High interest in this critically endangered species in the 141 strikes, with no more than 54 whales struck or 41 United States has led to a substantial investment during the whales landed in any one year (IWC 1992c). The size of last 15 years in research on right whales along the west­ the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort stock in the late 1980s was ern Atlantic coast. A Right Whale Recovery Plan outlin­ estimated at about 7,500 whales (Zeh el al. 1993). ing protective measures and needed research has been The situations of other bowhead stocks are not as well published (National Marine Fisheries Service 1991). The understood, although there is no doubt that they are appre­ eastern North Atlantic population of right whales is very ciably smaller than the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort stock small (IWC 1986b). The history and present status of the (see Burns et al. 1993). Whales in the Okhotsk Sea and the right whale in the North Pacific was reviewed recently by Greenland, Barents, and Kara seas (Spitsbergen stock) are Scarff (1991), who concluded that the population there is not hunted but remain severely depleted, possibly num­ now only a very small fraction of what it was in the mid- bering in the low hundreds and tens, respectively (Zeh el 19th century. Little research has been done and few con­ al. 1993). Those in waters bordering northeastern Canada servation measures taken for right whales in the North and western Greenland (Davis Strait/Baffin Bay and Pacific. In the eastern North Pacific this is mainly because Hudson Bay stocks) have been subjected to occasional the few animals that survive appear to be scattered over killing by Inuit (Mitchell and Reeves 1982, Reeves and such an enormous area that directed research and conser­ Mitchell 1990). Zeh et al. (1993) made what they consid­ vation initiatives are practically impossible. More sur-

18 veys of right whale habitat in the western and central North Southern Right Whale Pacific are needed to determine the species' present status {Eubalaena australis) there (see Project 3, below). In the absence of direct hunts, the most serious contin­ Unlike its Northern Hemisphere congener, the southern uing threats to northern right whales appear to be vessel right whale (Fig. 6) has shown a significant trend of pop­ collisions and entanglement in fishing gear. It is estimated ulation increase in several areas during the past 20 years that more than half of the living right whales in the western (Best 1990, Payne et al. 1990, Bannister 1990; also see North Atlantic have experienced at least one ship strike or Van Waerebeek ef a/. 1992). Although numbers are still net entanglement, and a third of the deaths in this popula­ small in absolute terms (totaling only several thousand ani­ tion each year are thought to be directly caused by human mals), there is reason to expect that continued protection activities (cf. Kraus 1990, Kenney and Kraus 1993). A could eventually lead to substantial recovery of at least workshop sponsored by the U.S. National Marine some southern right whale stocks (see Best 1993). Fisheries Service in April 1992 provided an outline for implementing the Right Whale Recovery Plan (Hain 1992). A complementary plan is needed for Canada since Minke Whale much of the summer feeding range of the western North Atlantic stock is in eastern Canadian waters. Even though {Balaenoptera acutorostrata) right whales are nearly extinct in the eastern North This cosmopolitan species has been heavily exploited in Atlantic, the possibility that a few animals continue to use the North Pacific and Southern Ocean only since the the former "nursery area" in Cintra Bay, northwestern 1970s, by which time depletion and protection of the larger Africa, needs to be investigated (see Project 1, below). mysticetes had made these species less available or

Figure 6. This young southern right whale was found stranded on the shore of Peninsula Valdes. Coastal waters in this part of Argentina provide an important nursery area for the southwestern Atlantic right whale population (August 1989).

19 unavailable to the commercial whaling industry (Horwood 1990). The status of minke whale stocks has been a major concern of the IWC during the past two decades. The minke whale is not an endangered species, nor has any stock of minke whales been extirpated by whaling. However, some stocks, particularly those in the central and eastern North Atlantic and the western North Pacific, have been reduced by commercial whaling. The incidental cap­ ture of minke whales in fish nets and traps (Tobayama et al. 1992) has been given little attention, and its impact on pxjpulations has not been assessed. Japanese whaling for minke whales has continued in the Antarctic under scientific permits, and this has led to much controversy within and outside the IWC. The annual catch under these permits has been approximately 300. Norway also conducted a small-scale "research whaling" program in the North Atlantic during the moratorium era and resumed commercial whaling in 1993, having for­ mally objected to the moratorium and thus not being bound by its terms. Norwegian whalers took 226 whales in 1993, thus falling somewhat short of the national quota of 296 (research and commercial, combined).

Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis) This cosmopolitan mysticete has a patchy, oceanic distri­ bution (Horwood 1987). It has been heavily exploited in all areas where it is known to have been abundant. The current status of stocks is poorly known except that some are well below pre-exploitation levels.

Bryde's Whale {Balaenoptera edenl^ Bryde's whales have a pantropical distribution. Of all the medium-sized to large mysticetes, they were probably the least depleted by commercial whaling, although some pop­ Figure 7. Bryde's whales are killed regularly in an artisanal ulations were appreciably reduced. Catches in some areas whale hunt based at Pamilacan, Philippines (12 May 1992). were probably under-reported because of the failure to dis­ tinguish Bryde's whales from sei whales. Bryde's whales were the targets of Taiwanese whalers in the western in the 20th century, even after the establishment of the Pacific during the 1970s to mid 1980s (Brownell 1981, IWC, is often cited as an indictment of the Commission, Greenpeace 1987). They are taken regularly in the arti- and indeed of the world community's ability to achieve sanal whale hunt in the central Visayas, Philippines rational management of the whaling industry. Stocks in (Leatherwood et al. 1992; Fig. 7), and possibly also at the Southern Hemisphere have been of greatest concern. Lamakera, Indonesia (Barnes 1991). Some 150,000 to 210,000 blue whales migrated each year to antarctic waters early in the 20th century (Gambell 1976). Recent estimates suggest that only a few thousand Blue Whale blue whales (at least half of them "pygmy blue whales") survive in the Southern Hemisphere (Yochem and (Balaenoptera musculus) Leatherwood 1985, Butterworth and De Decker 1990, The continued decline of the world's stocks of blue whales Borchers er a/. 1991).

20 In the Northern Hemisphere more than 200 individual tially since then. blue whales have been photo-identified in the Gulf of St. Their coastal habits have made humpbacks readily Lawrence since 1979 (Sears et al. 1990) and close to 600 available to shore whalers in the past, and recovering pop­ off California since 1986 (Calambokidis et al. 1993). ulations are thus likely to become targets of resumed, or Sigurjonsson and Gunnlaugsson (1990) estimated that the expanded, "community-based" whaling in the future. population near Iceland has been increasing by about 5% Humpbacks are also vulnerable to vessel collisions, entan­ per year since 1969. The total population in the north­ glement in fishing gear, and the effects of nearshore habi­ eastern Pacific may be approaching 4,000 (Best 1993; and tat degradation. At present there is little direct killing, and see Baskin 1993, Barlow 1994). Thus in both the North incidental mortality is apparently not a major problem in Atlantic and North Pacific the blue whale populations may most areas (but see Volgenau e/a/. 1993). Considering be recovering. that the world population of humpbacks is probably still in the low tens of thousands, continued protection is appro­ priate. No species of cetacean offers higher "non-con­ Fin Whale sumptive value" than the humpback, as both an aesthetic {Balaenoptera physalus) and scientific resource. The presence of concentrations of humpbacks near large human population centers, during Like the blue whale, this species was severely reduced both summer and winter, has provided good opportunities worldwide by commercial whaling beginning in the late for whale watching (Hoyt 1992b, 1994). 1800s. Fin whales were hunted commercially in the North Atlantic off Spain and Iceland as recently as the 1980s, and small numbers are still taken in Greenland (whose whaling Gray Whale operations are considered to be for satisfying "aboriginal subsistence need" and are therefore exempt from the IWC {Eschrichtius robustus) moratorium). Although it is generally agreed that the The gray whale is extinct in the North Atlantic, possibly stocks in the North Atlantic have all been reduced to some due to whaling (Mead and Mitchell 1984), but two stocks extent, their degree of depletion is subject to dispute. The survive in the North Pacific. The western Pacific stock, total current population in the North Atlantic may be which apparently consists of no more than a few hundred somewhat more than 46,000 (IWC 1992b:table 1; whales, is endangered and has been legally protected from Buckland e/fl/. 1992a). commercial whaling during the last few decades. The The populations in the Southern Ocean remain sparse eastern stock of more than 21,000 has been growing compared with what they were before commercial whaling slowly in spite of an annual directed kill of between 150 (Gambell 1976, Butterworth and De Decker 1990, and 200 (IWC in press b, Buckland er fl/. 1993c). Because Borchers e/fl/. 1991).

Humpback Whale {Megaptera novaeangliae) Humpback whales have a cosmopolitan distribution. Commercial whaling seriously depleted all stocks, but several are making strong recoveries under protection (Paterson and Paterson 1989, Sigurjonsson and Gunnlaugsson 1990, Bannister e/a/. 1991). The popula­ tion in the western North Atlantic, which has been studied intensively for the past 20 years, is among the best-known populations of large cetaceans in the world. Two inde­ pendent approaches provide evidence that this stock has been increasing at least since the 1970s (Sigurjonsson and Gunnlaugsson 1990, Katona and Beard 1990). A global effort is underway to identify individuals in all humpback populations genetically and photographically. Katona and Beard (1991) estimated that approximately 8,000 individ­ Figure 8. Gray whales sometimes collide withfishing gea r during their nearshore migration off western North America. This animal ual humpbacks had been photo-identified throughout the became entangled in a herring gillnet near Cleland Island, British world as of 1990, and this number has increased substan- Columbia, Canada (23 March 1993).

21 of its recovery and the absence of any immediate threat to ulation(s) of Commerson's dolphin. its survival, this stock of gray whales was removed from There is no evidence that these dolphins are hunted or the U.S. Endangered Species List in June 1994. Most of taken on a significant scale in fishing gear around the the I WC annual catch limit of 178 gray whales is allocated Falkland Islands. The Kerguelen papulation is probably to Russia for the benefit of aboriginal communities in small and would be threatened by the large-scale use of Chukotka (Krupnik 1987, Sander 1992). gillnets in coastal waters, which however does not occur at The gray whale's coastal migration and inshore distri­ present. French observers on board Russian trawlers bution in winter create the conditions for conflict with working on the Kerguelen plateau have not reported any many human activities. In compaTrison with some of the incidental kills of dolphins (D. Robineau, pers. comm.). more oceanic cetaceans, individual gray whales may be more vulnerable to disturbance, collisions with fishing gear (Fig. 8) and vessels, oil spills and other forms of pol­ Chilean Dolphin lution, and habitat modification or destruction. However, {Cephalorhynchus eutropia) such problems seem not to have significantly impeded the eastern stock's recovery from depletion. Like other members of this genus, the Chilean dolphin has a restricted, coastal distribution. Its range is limited to Chilean coastal waters from approximately 30° S south­ Pygmy Right Whale ward to southern Tierra del Fuego (Goodall et al. 1988b, Goodall 1994b). The crab bait fishery in southern Chile, in {Caperea marginata) combination with a variety of other fisheries along the This species has a circumpolar distribution in temperate Chilean coast throughout the species' range, have been and subantarctic waters of the Southern Ocean (Baker viewed as potentially serious threats to the Chilean dol­ 1985, Pavey 1992). It is one of the least known of all phin. However, documentation of the numbers and cetaceans. Very few pygmy right whales are known to species of dolphins actually taken in the various areas and have been taken (Ross et al. 1975), and no conservation fisheries is fragmentary (Goodall and Cameron 1980, problems have been identified. Leatherwood e/a/. 1988b). No population estimates are available for any part of this dolphin's very limited range.

Commerson's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) Heaviside's Dolphin {Cephalorhynchus heavlsldil) Commerson's dolphin occurs in two disjunct populations: one in the western South Atlantic including the Falkland Heaviside's dolphin (Fig. 9) inhabits coastal waters off the Islands (Islas Malvinas) area and the Strait of Magellan, west coast of southern Africa (Best and Abernethy 1994). and one near the Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian It is the most commonly sighted dolphin in Namibian Ocean (Goodall 1994a). The South American population waters (M. Griffin, Directorate of Wildlife, Conservation has been subjected to harpooning (mainly for crab bait), accidental capture in fishing gear, and some live-capture for oceanaria (Goodall et al. 1988a, Leatherwood et al. 1988b, Ifiiguez 1991b). No good estimates are available on the magnitude of the catches or on the size of the pop­ ulation. The fragmentary information available on exploitation suggests that at least hundreds of Com­ merson's dolphins were killed per year during the 1970s and 1980s in southern Argentina and Chile (IWC 1985, Goodall et al. 1988a). Leatherwood et al. (1988a) esti­ mated that there were 3,211 (SE=1,168) Commerson's dolphins present in the northeastern Strait of Magellan in early 1984, but subsequent estimates have been much smaller (cf. Venegas and Atalah 1988). The discrepan­ cies may be the result of seasonal migrations into and out of the strait or of differences in estimation methods or Figure 9. Heaviside's dolphin is a coastal species endemic to the observer experience. More and better data are needed to southwestern coast of Africa. Little is known about its life assess the conservation status of the South American pop- history, ecology, and population size.

22 and Research, Windhoek, in litt. to M. Klinowska, January the Mediterranean they are frequently killed in various 1993). There is no evidence of a conservation problem for types of fishing gear, and they are known to carry high this species at present, but it is vulnerable by virtue of its body burdens of contaminants. The collapse offish stocks restricted distribution. Accidental capture occurs in trawl, in both the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, due to over- purse-seine, beach-seine, set, and drift nets, and small num­ exploitation and pollution, has likely affected the food sup­ bers are taken by hand harpoon (IWC 1985, Best and plies of common (and other) dolphins. Abernethy 1994). P.B. Best and Blake Abernethy of the Common dolphins are among the cetaceans that have University of Pretoria and South African Museum have an been heavily impacted by the tuna purse seine fishery in the ongoing research program for Heaviside's dolphin. eastern tropical Pacific (IWC 1992a). All three stocks of concern—northern, central, and southern—were signifi­ cantly reduced by the tuna fishery. The total population of Hector's Dolphin common dolphins in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) dur­ {Cephalorhynchus hector!) ing the late 1980s was at least half a million, perhaps as high as several million. A continued decline of the northern This dolphin is endemic to coastal waters of New Zealand stock in the 1980s was thought to be related to a change in (Slooten and Dawson 1994). Its total population was esti­ dolphin distribution (Anganuzzi and Buckland 1994). mated during the mid-1980s at 5,000-6,000 (Cawthorn Common dolphins are killed incidentally in fishing gear 1988) or 3,000-4,000 (Dawson and Slooten 1988). or taken deliberately by artisanal dolphin hunters in many Numbers may have declined because of mortality in gill- areas in addition to those mentioned above, including, e.g., nets (Slooten and Lad 1991). The New Zealand Sri Lanka (Leatherwood and Reeves 1989), India (Silas et Department of Conservation established a sanctuary for al. 1984, Mohan 1988), Australia (annual progress reports to Hector's dolphin (and other marine mammals) around the IWC), the United States (Waring et al. 1990), Spain Banks Peninsula in December 1988 (Dawson and Slooten (trawlers in the Bay of Biscay and tuna longlines in the 1993). Gillnetting is restricted in sanctuary waters primar­ Northeast Atlantic;/zde A. Collet, pers. comm.), France ily to prevent accidental entanglement of dolphins (see (trawlers in the Bay of Biscay and tuna driftnets in the Dawson 1991b). During 1992 the CSG considered Northeast Atlantic; yjde A. Collet, pers. comm., Goujon et whether the RDB status of this species should be changed al. 1993), Ecuador (Samaniego and Felix 1994), and Peru from Indeterminate to a more explicit category (Endang­ (Read et al. 1988). Large catches were recorded in Peru ered or Vulnerable). It was agreed that Vulnerable status for the first time in 1987 (Van Waerebeek and Reyes 1990), would be appropriate. and the proportion of common dolphins in the Peruvian cetacean catch has increased substantially since 1990 (Van Waerebeek et al. 1993). Fishery conflicts in Argentina were Short-beaked and Long-beaked discussed by Gonzalez (1991) and Crespo et al. (in press). Common Dolphins {Delphlnus delphis and Delphinus capensis) Pygmy Killer Whale The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution except for sub­ (Feresa attenuata) polar and polar latitudes. There is good evidence for two The pygmy killer whale is widely distributed in tropical species in at least the eastern North Pacific (Heyning and and subtropical waters worldwide (Ross and Leatherwood Perrin 1994), and morphologically separable populations 1994). Small numbers are taken in a variety of fisheries, probably also exist in other parts of the range (e.g. there is both directly and incidentally. Since the pygmy killer evidence for long- and short-beaked forms in the eastern whale is probably naturally fairly uncommon, such takes South Pacific; K. Van Waerebeek, pers. comm.). Common could have disproportionate significance on at least a local dolphins are generally considered shelf-edge and deepwa- or regional scale. ter animals, but they occur close to shore in some areas. Although properly regarded as abundant on a worldwide basis, some populations have been heavily exploited and Short-finned Pilot Whale have declined as a result. The stock in the Black Sea has been seriously depleted by overhunting (IWC 1992a). In {Globicephala macrorhynchus) the western Mediterranean Sea (north of about 39° N) This species occurs in tropical to warm-temperate waters common dolphins have been said to be "in clear recession worldwide, and its distribution extends into cold-temperate (due to unknown causes)" (IWC 1992a, citing Viale 1985; waters in the North Pacific. Stocks are ill-defined except also see Notarbartolo di Sciara et al. 1993). Elsewhere in off Japan, where two morphologically distinct, allopatric

23 forms have been identified (Kasuya et al. 1988; also see 1991 and 1993 (Study Group on Pilot Whales 1992, 1993) Kasuya and Tai 1993). The species' overall abundance is to review information and begin assessing the North undoubtedly high, but some populations are depleted Atlantic stock(s) within an ecological context. The recently (IWC 1987). The northern form off Japan has an esti­ published special issue of the IWC report series provides an mated population of only 4,600 whales; an annual quota of important benchmark for evaluating the status of this 50 whales of this form has been in effect since 1986 species in the North Atlantic (Donovan et al. 1993). (Kishiro and Kasuya 1993). The Japanese southern-form stock is larger (about 53,000—Miyashita 1993). In recent years a total quota of 450 whales per year, allocated to Risso's Dolphin three fisheries, has been set for this form of pilot whale in {Grampus griseus) Japan (Kishiro and Kasuya 1993). Klinowska (1991) called attention to the problem of Risso's dolphin is locally abundant in tropical to warm- poorly documented hunting in the Lesser Antilles, where temperate latitudes throughout the world's oceans. Few there are artisanal fisheries for pilot whales at several good estimates of this deepwater, squid-eating species are islands. Catches are not regularly monitored and reported. available, but Miyashita (1993) estimated a total of about There is no information on stock identity in this area as 83,000 in three areas of concentration off Japan. The there is for Japan, nor are there any abundance estimates species has been taken consistently in moderate numbers for pilot whales in the Caribbean region. Elsewhere short- in the Japanese coastal fisheries for small cetaceans finned pilot whales are taken as a bycatch and as a minor (Miyazaki 1983, IWC 1992a), and the catch off the Pacific target species in various small-cetacean fisheries (e.g. coast of Japan has increased recently (Kishiro and Kasuya Hembree 1980, Read et al. 1988, Leatherwood et al. 1993). Risso's dolphin has been among the species culled 1991b, 1992, Baird and Stacey 1993, Samaniego and Felix for fishery protection in Japan (Kasuya 1985b, Anonymous 1994, Dolar in press, Vidal et al. in press, IWC in press a). 1992a). It has also contributed prominently to the catch of small cetaceans in Sri Lanka (Kruse et al. 1991) and the Philippines (Dolar in press, Leatherwood et al. 1992). Crude estimates of population size and catch in Sri Lankan Long-finned Pilot Whale fisheries led Kruse et al. (1991) to conclude that the {Globicephala melas) exploitation rate in that area was probably unsustainable. The long-finned pilot whale has a discontinuous distribu­ tion in cold-temperate to subpolar waters of the North Atlantic and the Southern Ocean. Its aggregate abundance Fraser's Dolphin is at least in the hundreds of thousands. The Southern {Lagenodelphis hosel) Ocean population is not known to be exploited on a sig­ nificant scale. However, long-finned pilot whales in the This tropical oceanic species (Fig. 10) is poorly known North Atlantic have long been exploited in drive fisheries (Perrin et al. 1994a, Jefferson and Leatherwood 1994). It as well as in shore-based and pelagic hunts. There has also is exploited in various fisheries for small cetaceans (e.g. been a substantial bycatch in the mackerel fishery off the Japan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Lesser Antilles, Indonesia, northeastern United States (Waring et al. 1990, IWC and Taiwan), but it is not known to be taken regularly or on 1992a, Fairfield era/. 1993). a large scale except in the Philippines (Dolar et al. 1994). The area of greatest concern in recent years has been There is little or no information on stock identity or popu­ the Faroe Islands, where the traditional annual pilot whale lation size and productivity. No serious conservation prob­ drive is several hundred years old (Zachariassen 1993). lem is known, but the situation in the Philippines certainly Whereas the drive fishery in Newfoundland crashed dur­ requires further investigation. ing the 1960s due to local stock depletion, the Faeroes hunt has been maintained for more than four centuries. Sighting surveys in 1987 and 1989 provided a population Atlantic White-sided Dolphin estimate of more than 750,000 pilot whales in the north­ {Lagenorhynchus acutus) eastern North Atlantic (Buckland et al. 1993b). Much of the recent controversy surrounding Faroese pilot whaling This species is confined to the northern North Atlantic has had to do with the inhumane methods used and the (Reeves et al. in press a). A recent review indicated that the question of whether the hunt is necessary from a socio­ total population on the North American continental shelf economic or nutritional point of view. is probably in the high tens of thousands (Gaskin 1992b). A Study Group on Pilot Whales established by the Large numbers of Atlantic white-sided dolphins are also International Council for the Exploration of the Sea met in present in parts of the eastern North Atlantic although there

24 are no population estimates from there (Evans 1990). status of the hunted population. Direct catches and The only areas where these dolphins are exploited bycatches in other parts of the range are not known to be directly are the Faroe Islands, where more than 500 were large enough to cause serious concern. killed in the drive fishery in one recent year (Bloch and Hoydal 1990), and Southwest Greenland, where the annual catch has been estimated as <50 (Heide-J0rgensen Peale's Dolphin 1990). Relatively small numbers are also killed in fish­ (Lagenorhynchus australis) ing gear throughout much of the species' range. No acute conservation problem is known to exist at the present This dolphin is endemic to coastal and shelf waters of the time, but the occasionally large catches at the Faeroes are southern cone of South America (Fig. 11). It also occurs a source of concern. around the Falkland Islands. A group of what were tenta­ tively identified as dolphins of this species was seen near Palmerston Island in the tropical South Pacific White-beaked Dolphin (Leatherwood et al. 1991a). Very little is known about {Lagenorhynchus albirostris) the biology, ecology, and abundance of Peale's dolphin. The population in Beagle Channel, the Magallanes, and The distribution of this species, another North Atlantic southern Tierra del Fuego has been exploited for crab bait endemic, is more northerly than that of the Atlantic white- since the 1970s, when the fisheries for southern snow sided dolphin. The total population of white-beaked dol­ crabs, or centolla (Lithodes antarctica), and false king phins is at least in the tens of thousands, taking account of crabs or centollon (Paralomis granulosa), expanded. survey results in different portions their range (Reeves et Documentation of the catch, which may involve harpoon­ al. in press b). ing, deliberate netting, and incidental takes in fishing gear, These dolphins are hunted for local consumption in is poor (Goodall and Cameron 1980 and contained refer­ Newfoundland and Labrador, and the direct take in this ences; Leatherwood e/fl/. 1988b, liiiguez 1991a). Of all area has elicited conservation concern (Ailing and the species in the genus Lagenorhynchus, this one has the Whitehead 1987). However, no record is kept of the num­ most restricted range, and it may also be the least abun­ ber of dolphins killed; nor is there any information on the dant. Better information is urgently needed to determine

Figure 10. A tightly bunched group of t^raser's dolphins, in a herd of 150 seen about 15 km east of Alor Island, Indonesia, at 08° 18' S, 125° 16'E (15 June 1990).

25 Figure 11. The conservation status of Peale's dolphin in the Magallanes of southern South America has been a concern for several years because of reports that large numbers were being taken for use as bait in crab fisheries. Closer investigation of this situation is a high priority of the CSG.

Anne-Catherlne Lescrauwaet

how serious a threat the bait fishery poses. There is also the northern rim of the North Pacific, from Baja concern about the levels of bycatch of this species in vari­ California in the east to Japan in the west (Brownell and ous other Chilean and Argentine fisheries. Walker in press). Two stocks each have been identified in Rearing pens for hatchery salmon {Oncorhynchus spp. the eastern (Walker et al. 1986) and western (Miyazaki and Salmo salar) have been introduced in many of the and Shikano 1989) portions of the range. Although the Chilean fiords inhabited by Peale's dolphins. It is feared aggregate population of this North Pacific endemic is that the appropriation of space as well as various distur­ large (probably at least in the hundreds of thousands), bances caused by activities associated with the salmon-cul­ there has been concern about the bycatch in Japanese, ture industry could have an important impact on the Korean, and Taiwanese high-seas drift gillnets (IWC dolphin population (J. Oporto, jDcrs. comm.). 1992a). Moderate numbers of white-sided dolphins are sometimes killed in the harpoon and drive fisheries in Japan (Miyazaki 1983, Kishiro and Kasuya 1993) as well Hourglass Dolphin as in gillnets throughout the species.' range (Miyazaki {Lagenorhynchus crucigei) 1983, Perkins et al. 1993). This species has also been among those involved in fishery-protection culls in Japan The hourglass dolphin has a circumpolar distribution in the (Kasuya 1985b). Southern Hemisphere (Brownell in press c). Its normal range is limited to antarctic and cold-temperate waters. There are no published records of exploitation, and no con­ Dusky Dolphin servation problem has been identified. A recent estimate (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) of the population in antarctic waters was about 144,000 (Kasamatsu 1993). Dusky dolphins have a circumpolar distribution in cold- temperate continental waters of the Southern Hemisphere. Because they are not seen in deep oceanic waters far sea­ Pacific White-sided Dolphin ward of the continental shelves, the dolphins in South America, southern Africa, and New Zealand presumably {Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) comprise separate stocks (IWC 1992a). Analysis of vari­ This species is abundant and widely distributed across ation in mature skulls and body size indicates differences

26 at the population, and possibly subspecific, level for dol­ Like Lissodelphis borealis it is gregarious and oceanic. No phins from the southeastern Pacific, New Zealand, and population estimates are available, but southern right southwestern Africa (Van Waerebeek 1993). Dusky dol­ whale dolphins are probably reasonably abundant. phins are found in large herds and can be considered abun­ Although they are killed occasionally in fishing gear, no dant overall. However, recent catches off western South large-scale incidental mortality has been documented. Of America have been large enough to cause serious concern. greatest concern is the likelihood that these dolphins, like The small-cetacean fishery in Peru, which involves capture their Northern Hemisphere counterparts, would be seri­ in gillnets as well as by harpooning, removes thousands ously affected by drift gillnets deployed within their range, of dusky dolphins annually (Read et al. 1988, Van particularly off Chile. Waerebeek and Reyes 1990). Although the Peruvian gov­ ernment announced a ban on the directed fishery for small cetaceans in November 1990, the ban has been ineffective. Irrawaddy Dolphin A sample of the catch between August 1991 and June 1993 {Orcaella brevirostris) suggested a total annual catch (direct and incidental com­ bined) of more than 7,000 dolphins and porpoises, approx­ In spite of its vernacular name, which refers to a large river imately half of them dusky dolphins (Van Waerebeek elal. system in southern Asia, this species is not limited to fresh­ 1993; also see IWC in press a). water habitats. Its distribution includes riverine, estuarine, The dusky dolphin is among the species that have been and coastal marine waters from the central east coast of taken for crab bait in southern Argentina and Chile India in the west to the northeast coast of Australia in the (Cardenas et al. 1987, Crespo 1991b, Lescrauwaet and east (Marsh et al. 1989). It is uncertain whether the dis­ Gibbons 1994). It was only recently learned that dusky tribution is continuous between areas of relative abun­ dolphins are killed, in unknown numbers, by a multi- dance. There may be a number of separate stocks, some of species trawl fishery off Patagonia and in other Argentine which are limited to particular river systems, estuaries, or fisheries (Crespo 1991b). embayments. Several areas have been identified where the population of Irrawaddy dolphins is considered to have declined due to human activities: Chilka Lagoon in the Northern Right Whale Dolphin western Bay of Bengal (Dhandapani 1992), the Mahakam River/Semayang Lake region of eastern Borneo (Tas'an {Lissodelphis borealis) and Leatherwood 1984, A. Priyono, in litt., 8 November The northern right whale dolphin is widely distributed in 1991), Segara Anakan Bay on the south coast of central the cold-temperate North Pacific (Jefferson and Java (A. Priyono, op. cit.), and inshore waters of Thailand Newcomer 1993, Jefferson e< a/. 1994). Stock identity has (M. Andersen and C.C. Kinze in IWC 1994). not been adequately studied, and only crude population A directed net fishery for Irrawaddy dolphins (and estimates for segments of the species' range are available. Sousa chinensis) has developed in Thailand to supply live These dolphins have never been exploited directly on a animals to oceanaria; this fishery apparently evolved from significant scale, although they are taken occasionally in the accidental capture of dolphins in nets, which has a con­ the harpoon fishery mainly for Dall's porpoises in northern siderably longer history locally (Smith 1991). The bycatch Japan (Miyazaki 1983). They are also killed incidentally of Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River system of in coastal gillnet fisheries. Laos and Cambodia is also feared to be substantial (Baird Since the late 1970s large numbers of right whale dol­ etal. 1994). phins have died in the Japanese, Taiwanese, and Korean Nothing is known about the situation in Bangladesh high-seas driftnet fisheries for squid. Estimates of the total except that some mortality in fishing nets occurs there kill in one year ranged as high as 50,000+. The IWC's (Haque 1982). Some mortality of Irrawaddy dolphins has Subcommittee on Small Cetaceans called attention to this also occurred in shark-meshing and other fishing opera­ mortality as a potentially serious conservation problem tions off Australia (Mitchell 1975, Australia progress (IWC 1992a), and the population(s) involved have prob­ reports to IWC), and small numbers have been taken delib­ ably been depleted (Mangel 1993). erately for captive display in both Indonesia (Tas'an and Leatherwood 1984) and Australia (Klinowska 1991). A relatively large population of Irrawaddy dolphins is known Southern Right Whale Dolphin to be present in coastal waters of Australia's Northern {Lissodelphis peronii) Territory, where no serious conservation problem is known to exist at present (Freeland and Bayliss 1989). This dolphin has a circumpolar range in cold-temperate As pointed out by Klinowska (1991:262), dams and waters of the Southern Hemisphere (Jefferson et al. 1994). barrages constructed in rivers could fragment Irrawaddy

Sf' dolphin populations. However, there is no evidence that British Columbia (Canada) has been banned since the late existing structures have done so in, for example, the 1970s; Iceland has supplied most of the animals recently Ganges system on the Indian Subcontinent. Anderson brought into captivity (Hoyt 1990). (1871) surmised that Orcaella occasionally entered tidal streams of the Ganges, to perhaps 130-150 km from the sea, and he claimed that these dolphins occurred frequently Melon-headed Whale in the estuaries of the Ganges and Brahmaputra (Anderson {Peponocephala electra) 1879:369). However, Farakka Barrage, the farthest down­ stream dam in the Ganges system, is at least 300 km from This poorly-known species is distributed in tropical to the sea. The two records of Orcaella from the lower warm-temperate waters worldwide (Ferryman etal. 1994). Ganges indicated on Morzer Bruyns' (1966) map (and There are no estimates of abundance for most areas. Small redrawn by Marsh et al. 1989) apparently refer to nine­ numbers are taken in nets and by harpooning throughout teenth-century occurrences in the Hooghly River at the tropics (e.g. Caldwell et al. 1976, Leatherwood and Serampore and Budge Budge (Agrawal 1991). Both of Reeves 1989, Leatherwood etal. 1991b, 1992), but no par­ these sites are near Calcutta and thus well downstream of ticular conservation problem has been identified. any barrage that exists at present. Kasuya and Haque (1972) reported seeing Irrawaddy dolphins in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh up to approximately 100 km False Killer Whale from the sea. {Pseudorca crassidens) This gregarious species is known for its tendency to mass Killer Whale or Orca strand. It is usually found in deep water and in tropical to warm-temperate latitudes (Stacey et al. in press). False {Orcinus orca) killer whales die from entanglement in fishing gear and are The killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, and its taken opportunistically in directed fisheries for small world population is probably at least 100,000 (see cetaceans (e.g. Leatherwood et al. 1991b, Anonymous Klinowska 1991). Although it has been described as pan- 1992a). They have been blamed for damaging the yel- mictic (Matkin and Leatherwood 1986), there is consider­ lowtail (Seriola lalandi) fishery near Iki Island, Japan, able variation in morphology and behavior within the and consequently have been culled in large numbers species, so gene flow among regional populations is prob­ (Kasuya 1985b, Anonymous 1992a). The population off ably limited (Hoelzel and Dover 1991). Its large size, Japan, totaling about 16,600 in three areas (Miyashita catchability, and coastal habits (of some groups) have 1993), has been exploited on a moderate scale (<100 per made the killer whale a target for whaling operations. year in recent years) (Kishiro and Kasuya 1993). Except Relatively large catches have been made only by possibly in Japanese waters, there does not appear to be Norwegian (0ien 1988) and Soviet (IWC 1982) whalers, any acute conservation problem for the species at this time. the former operating in the northern North Atlantic and the However, Kishiro and Kasuya (1993) cautioned: latter in the Antarctic. These catching operations have "Management of this species requires great caution, been suspended since the early 1980s. because of the small population size, low reproductive rate Killer whales are still hunted in some areas of the and the large body size which may attract new operations." world, notably in Greenland (Heide-J0rgensen 1988), They were referring specifically to the relatively small Indonesia (Barnes 1991), Japan (Miyazaki 1983), and the populations near the Pacific coast of Japan (about 2,000 Lesser Antilles (Price 1985). The killing in Greenland is animals) and off Iki Island and in part of the East China Sea (about 3,200 animals). encouraged by government policy, and hunting mortality is under-reported (Heide-J0rgensen 1988). Killer whales are also taken in gillnets at least occasionally in the Indian Ocean (Leatherwood et al. 1991b) and probably else­ Tucuxi where. A conflict with the longline fishery for black cod (Sotalia fluviatilis) (Anoplopoma fimbrica) in the Gulf of Alaska has resulted in some illegal shooting of killer whales by fishermen This small dolphin is endemic to the rivers and coastal (Leatherwood et al. 1990). marine waters of eastern South and Central America. It There is much concern about the appropriateness of appears to have a continuous distribution along shore from keeping killer whales in captivity (Hoyt 1992a). Their the Florianopolis region of Brazil (27° 35' S, 48° 34' W), live-capture in inshore waters of Washington (U.S.A.) and north to at least Nicaragua (ca 14° 35' N, 83° 15' W) (Carr

28 Indo-Pacific Hump-backed Dolphin (Sousa chinensis) This neritic dolphin is widely distributed in the Indo- Pacific but does not appear to be abundant anywhere. Ross etal. (1994), following Zhou et al. (1980), tentatively attributed sjDecific status to the two Indo-Pacific forms of hump-backed dolphin: 5. plumbea in the Indian Ocean and S. chinensis in the western Pacific. Our lumping them, here, into one species reflects convention rather than any serious disagreement about systematic similarities or dif­ ferences. Hump-backed dolphins usually do not move far up rivers but instead seem to live mainly in deltaic and mangrove habitats or along open coasts very near shore. They are often seen well inside harbors, even those with considerable vessel traffic (e.g. Hammond and Leather- Figure 12. Fishermen in the Amazon basin and along the north­ wood 1984, Beadon 1991). eastern coast of South America are familiar with the tucuxi, a Little attention has been given to the status of hump­ small dolphin similar in appearance to the well-known bottlenose backed dolphins, but there is reason to believe that some dolphin. The scale of bycatches in fisheries may threaten the populations have been seriously depleted and that others populations of tucuxis in some areas; note the gillnet buoys in the background on this photograph (Upper Trombetas River, may be under considerable stress. The number of hump­ Brazil, October 1969). backed dolphins killed in gillnets set to deplete shark pop­ ulations off Natal, South Africa, may be high relative to the local population size (Cockcroft 1990, Ross et al. 1994). Incidental catches have also been reported from (at least) India (Mohan 1988), Pakistan (Pilleri and Pilleri 1979), and Bonde 1993), and it is present in rivers and lakes of the Tanzania (Howell and Pearson 1977), and Australia Amazon region as far up as Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador, (annual progress reports to IWC). In all of these areas, and in at least the lower Orinoco River of Venezuela the scale of human-caused mortality and the status of (Borobia et al. 1991, Borobia 1992, Herman et al. 1992, da stocks are unknown. Silva and Best 1994). Stocks have not been delineated, but Hump-backed dolphins are taken in fishing gear in the riverine and marine specimens are morphologically sepa­ upper Gulf of Thailand, and the demand for live specimens rable (Borobia 1992). The species is considered abundant in Thai oceanaria has recently led to the development of a in some areas, but no meaningful population estimates are directed net fishery there (Smith 1991). It has been available. The tucuxi may be the cetacean most commonly reported that these dolphins (along with finless porpoises, taken as a bycatch in coastal fisheries of the southern bottlenose dolphins, and Irrawaddy dolphins) are no longer Caribbean Sea (Vidal et al. in press a, IWC in press a). present in large parts of their former range in inshore Directed capture is apparently infrequent, but there is waters of Thailand (M. Andersen and C.C. Kinze in IWC concern about the scale of incidental mortality in nets (Fig. 1994). The number of hump-backed dolphins in Hong 12). In parts of Amazonia the genital organs and eyes of Kong waters is thought to have declined in recent years, these dolphins are sometimes sold as amulets, and in presumably as a result of overfishing, pollution, and ram­ coastal areas their meat is eaten or u.sed as bait (Borobia pant development (Pryke 1993). Four strandings were and Rosas 1991). Thus fishermen have some incentive to documented in 1992 and six in 1993—from a dolphin pop­ retain specimens taken accidentally and perhaps also to ulation thought by some to be less than 100. hunt or net them deliberately. Catches reported in the annual IWC progress reports for Brazil (and other states) are incomplete (cf. Borobia and Rosas 1991, da Silva and Atlantic Hump-backed Dolphin Best in press, IWC in press a). The tucuxi's nearshore {Sousa teuszil) and riverine distribution means that it is vulnerable not only to capture but also to a large variety of environmen­ The Atlantic hump-backed dolphin is endemic to the east­ tal threats, including river damming and other river modi­ ern tropical Atlantic, where its known range is limited to fications, pollution, and underwater noise (Borobia and nearshore and inshore waters (Ross et al. 1994). It is eco­ Rosas 1991, da Silva and Marmontel 1994). logically similar to Sousa chinensis, with pockets of highest

29 density in brackish, mangrove-lined estuaries and appar­ Clymene Dolphin ently limited movement close along exposed coastlines (cf. (Stenella clymene) Spaans 1990). The total population size has not t)een esti­ mated but is certainly low compared with those of the more The identity of this dolphin as a species separate from widely distributed and gregarious delphinids. Maigret Stenella longirostris was established by Perrin et al. (1980) estimated that no more than 100 hump-backed dol­ (1981). Its known range is in the tropical and subtropical phins were present in Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania, or in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Saloum Delta, Senegal (also see Beaubrun 1990). Caribbean Sea (Perrin and Mead 1994). There is no good Klinowska (1991) summarized the potential threats to information on its overall abundance. However, the aver­ the species, including accidental capture in fishing gear and age herd size in the Gulf of Mexico is only about 30, and reduction of prey populations by overfishing or habitat the largest herd known had about 50 animals (T.A. destruction. Directed hunting for these dolphins is not Jefferson, pers. comm.). Clymene dolphins may be killed known to occur systematically in any area but may occur in tuna purse seines in the eastern tropical Atlantic. Rough in at least Senegal (T.A. Jefferson, pers. comm.). Never­ estimates of the total dolphin kill in this fishery have theless, study of Atlantic hump-backed dolphins is accorded ranged from 3,300 to 5,000 per year, but there has been a high priority because of their restricted range, narrow eco­ very little observer coverage. The actual kill may be much logical niche, and presumed low population size. higher, and if it is, this mortality could represent a signifi­ cant conservation problem. These dolphins are also har- fXDoned in small numbers by artisanal dolphin hunters in Pantropical Spotted Dolphin the Lesser Antilles and are taken incidentally in gillnets off {Stenella attenuata) Venezuela (Perrin and Mead 1994). This widespread, abundant dolphin was only recently dis­ tinguished from Stenella frontalis, with which it is Striped Dolphin broadly sympatric in much of the Atlantic part of its range (Stenella coeruleoalba) (Perrin et al. 1987, Perrin and Hohn 1994). The pantrop­ ical spotted dolphin occurs in groups of a few individuals Striped dolphins have a cosmopolitan distribution in trop­ to several thousand animals, and it inhabits both nearshore ical and temperate waters (Perrin et al. 1994b). Although and oceanic habitats in tropical and warm-temperate they remain abundant overall, several populations have areas. Along with Stenella longirostris this species has been heavily exploited and show signs of serious decline. borne the brunt of the massive killing by tuna purse sein­ The most critical situations are in the western North ers in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP). More than 60% Pacific and the Mediterranean Sea. Catches of striped dol­ of the total dolphin kill in this fishery has involved ani­ phins in the Japanese drive fishery have declined dramati­ mals of the northern offshore stock oi Stenella attenuata cally since the 1950s, and Japanese scientists estimated (IWC 1992a). The current northeastern stock of approxi­ that the population had been reduced by 50% or more by mately 730,000 is estimated to be less than a quarter of the late 1970s (Kasuya and Miyazaki 1982, Kasuya its size in 1959 (Wade 1993a). Declines in the western/ 1985a). During the 1980s the fishermen consistently fell southern offshore and coastal ETP stocks are less well far short of reaching their quota of 5,000 striped dolphins documented. It is important to recognize that the impact per year (IWC 1991). In 1992 the IWC's Subcommittee on of purse seining on dolphins extends beyond direct mor­ Small Cetaceans called for a detailed assessment of the tality and injury to include disruption of social relation­ status of striped dolphins off Japan and for an "interim halt" ships and behavior, increased vulnerability to predation, to their direct exploitation in the drive fishery (IWC 1993). and "stress" effects (e.g. My rick 1988). (These concerns The annual catch off the Pacific coast of Japan at Taiji has are equally relevant to other species involved in the purse- declined to only about 1,000 dolphins in recent years, seine fishery.) According to W.F. Perrin (pers. comm.) which is still below the quota (Kishiro and Kasuya 1993). the conservation problem caused by mortality of spotted This development has occurred in spite of the continuing dolphins in the ETP tuna fishery has been largely solved, strong demand for dolphin meat (T. Kasuya, pers. comm.). with the estimated level of mortality less than 1% of esti­ The principal threats facing striped dolphins in the mated current population size. Mediterranean are pollution and incidental capture in purse In addition to the serious conservation problems caused seines and pelagic drift gillnets (IWC 1992a). A major by tuna purse seining, pantropical spotted dolphins have die-off of striped dolphins occurred in the western been heavily exploited in the Japanese drive and cull fish­ Mediterranean during 1990-1992. Although the proximate eries (Kasuya 1985a, 1985b, Kishiro and Kasuya 1993) cause was a disease syndrome linked to a morbillivirus and in a variety of other local or regional fisheries. infection (Van Bressem et al. 1991), high body burdens

30 of organochlorines may have reduced the animals' dis­ ner dolphins in the Gulf of Thailand is exploited as a ease resistance (Aguilar and Raga 1993, Kannan et al. bycatch in shrimp trawls in the Bight of Bangkok, but 1993). The dolphins also may have been suffering from a nothing is known about the size or geographical range of reduction in food supply due to the deteriorating condi­ this population or about dolphin catch rates in the shrimp tion of fish and invertebrate populations. fishery (Perrin et al. 1989b). Striped dolphins are taken directly and indirectly in many other parts of the world, but there is no evidence of major stock declines outside the western North Pacific and Rough-toothed Dolphin the Mediterranean. Among the fisheries that take striped {Steno bredanensis) dolphins in the North Atlantic are the Spanish trawl fishery in the Bay of Biscay and the French tuna driftnet fishery This is a tropical, deepwater species with a worldwide dis­ in the Northeast Atlantic (A. Collet, pers. comm., Goujon tribution (Miyazaki and Perrin 1994). It is generally not el al. 1993). Stocks in the eastern tropical Pacific are seen in large groups; nor is it seen frequently. Thus the impacted but are not considered to have been depleted by rough-toothed dolphin is probably not as abundant as other the tuna purse-seine fishery. warm-water oceanic dolphins such as Stenella spp. and Delphinus spp. Rough-toothed dolphins have been taken in relatively small numbers, both directly and as a bycatch, Atlantic Spotted Dolphin in various fisheries. No immediate conservation prob­ {Stenella frontalis) lems have been identified. The Atlantic spotted dolphin is an endemic species in the tropical to warm-temperate Atlantic Ocean (Perrin et al. Bottlenose Dolphin 1987, 1994c). Although it is generally considered abun­ {Tursiops truncatus) dant, there are no good population estimates. There has been little effort, until recently, to distinguish the Atlantic The bottlenose dolphin has a cosmopolitan distribution in from the pantropical spotted dolphin in sighting surveys. tropical to warm-temperate waters. The coastal habits of Spwtted dolphins are hunted in dolphin fisheries at some of one of the two recognized ecotypes make it available for the Caribbean islands and probably also in parts of West direct hunting and particularly vulnerable to incidental Africa. At least some of the animals taken are 5. frontalis. catch and habitat degradation. Conflicts between bot­ No serious conservation problems are known, but it should tlenose dolphins and human activities occur in many areas. be emphasized that no proper assessment has been done Those where serious conservation problems are known or in any of the areas where exploitation occurs. suspected include: the Mediterranean and Black seas, where direct hunting (historically) and incidental catches and environmental degradation (more recently) have Spinner Dolphin caused population decline (IWC 1992a); the south coast of {Stenella longirostris) Natal, South Africa, where catches in shark nets are prob­ ably unsustainable unless there is considerable mixing Spinner dolphins occur in large herds throughout the trop­ with adjacent populations (P.B. Best, pers. comm.; cf. ics (Perrin and Gilpatrick 1994). Perrin (1990) described Cockcroft 1990, 1992); Sri Lanka, where this is one of the three subspecies, two of which are known only from the principal species taken by harpoon and gillnet for fishbait eastern Pacific, and Perrin el al. (1989b) called attention to and human food (Leatherwood and Reeves 1989); Peru a dwarf form of the species in the Gulf of Thailand. (and possibly Chile), where both directed (mainly the The kill of eastern spinner dolphins in the eastern trop­ inshore form) and incidental (mainly the offshore form) ical Pacific (ETP) tuna purse-seine fishery exceeded killing occurs (Read et al. 1988, Van Waerebeek et al. 100,000 in some years between 1960 and 1970, and the 1990, K. Van Waerebeek, pers. comm.); Penghu Island, population of this subspecies (5. longirostris orientalis; Taiwan, where there was a drive and harpoon fishery at Perrin 1990) has declined from an estimated 1,438,000 in least until recently (see Hammond and Leatherwood 1984, 1959 to some 633,000 today (Wade 1993b). In addition Perrin 1988); and Japan, where large numbers (e.g. nearly to the problems for spinner dolphins caused by the ETP 3,400 in 1980) are taken in some years in the drive and har­ fishery, there has been substantial mortality in the dolphin poon fisheries (Miyazaki 1983) and where more than fishery at Sri Lanka (Leatherwood and Reeves 1989) and 4,000 were culled for fishery protection at Iki Island from in various other gillnet and harpoon fisheries around the 1977 to 1982 (Kasuya 1985b). The culling off northern world (Harwood and Hembree 1987, Leatherwood et al. Kyushu has declined in recent years, but the take in drive 1992, Perrin etal. in press). The population of dwarf spin­ and hand-harpoon fisheries along the Pacific coast has increased since the early 1980s (IWC 1992a, Kishiro and randum of understanding between Canada and Greenland, Kasuya 1993). A recent estimate of abundance for and this commission is expected to develop a hunt-man­ Japanese coastal waters of the Pacific (north of 30° N and agement regime for stock recovery and maintenance. west of 145° E) is about 37,000 (Miyashita 1993). In Canada, Greenland, and Alaska, where a large per­ More than 60 bottlenose dolphins were killed in a pilot centage of the world population of belugas is found, there whale drive at the Faroe Islands in 1991 (Denmark annual is a strong incentive to preserve stocks for the sustainable progress report to IWC), but this was an exceptional event. benefit of maritime aboriginal hunting communities. On the east coast of the United States and in the northern Much concern in eastern Canada is focused on the endan­ Gulf of Mexico, large-scale die-offs have occurred that may gered St. Lawrence River population, which supports be at least indirectly related to pxjllution (Hansen 1992). tourism and provides the rallying symbol for an environ­ The bottlenose dolphin is not an endangered species, mental clean-up campaign that is badly needed. Political but some populations are certainly depleted and under and economic instability in the Russian Arctic and immediate threat. These populations need to be closely Subarctic gives cause for concern about the conservation monitored. It is the species most often held in captivity, status of beluga stocks there. The history of intensive so problems concerning the welfare of cetaceans in cap­ commercial exploitation, together with the extensive tivity often center on the bottlenose dolphin. Unregulated industrial development that has occurred in the Eurasian live-capture fisheries can contribute to the depletion of Arctic, all too often with few environmental safeguards, wild populations. A regime is in place for managing live- may mean that some stocks of belugas in the eastern hemi­ capture operations in the southeastern United States sphere are in trouble as are some in the West. (Scott 1990), but captures in the Lesser Antilles, main­ land Latin America, and elsewhere are poorly docu­ mented and often unregulated. Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) White Whale or Beluga The narwhal is endemic to arctic waters, where three {Delphinapterus leucas) stocks are provisionally recognized—one centered in Baffin Bay, one in northern Hudson Bay, and one widely This circumpolar species was formerly abundant through­ distributed from East Greenland to the Kara Sea (IWC out the Arctic and Subarctic. Its current aggregate ]3opu- 1992a, 1993). The Baffin Bay stock, which is heavily lation has been estimated at close to 100,000 (IWC 1992a), exploited in Greenland and Canada, was recently esti­ but many of the 16 stocks provisionally recognized by the mated at about 34,000 animals (Koski and Davis 1994), IWC Scientific Committee have been seriously reduced by and the Hudson Bay stock (conservatively) at about 1300 overexploitation. (Richard 1991). Four stocks have been identified as "small (500 or less) The RDB classification of this species as Insufficiently and vulnerable to hunting or habitat deterioration" Known was probably appropriate in the late 1980s. (Southeast Baffin, Ungava Bay, St. Lawrence River, and However, as Cooke (1991:22) noted, better data on popu­ Cook Inlet) and one other as medium sized (500-3,000) lation size and removal rates might justify its reclassifica­ and "exploited at rates that give cause for concern" (East tion to Vulnerable status. Information in the RDB on trade Hudson Bay/James Bay) (IWC 1992a:186). All of these, in narwhal tusks was current only through 1985, when except the Cook Inlet stock, occur principally in Canadian Canada and Greenland successfully opposed a West waters. The Ungava Bay stock is close to extinction but German initiative to reclassify the narwhal from CITES still hunted (Reeves and Mitchell 1989). An internal com­ Appendix II (commercial trade unrestricted but subject to mittee in Canada has listed the St. Lawrence River, a documentation requirement) to Appendix I (commercial Ungava Bay, and Southeast Baffin stocks as Endangered trade prohibited). Prices of narwhal tusks and edible skin and the East Hudson Bay/James Bay stock as Threatened (muktuk) have increased substantially since 1985 in (Campbell 1991). In addition, the eastern High Arctic Canada (Reeves 1992, 1993) and remain strong in stock that is "shared" with Greenland (where it is inten­ Greenland (Reeves and Heide-J0rgensen 1994, Heide- sively hunted) was recently classified by this committee as J0rgensen 1994). The system for reporting catches in Vulnerable (Doidge and Finley in press; see Heide- Greenland had ceased to be reliable by the late 1980s. J0rgensen 1994). Results of aerial surveys in 1990 and Scientists from Canada have expressed concern that recent 1991 suggest that the stock has declined by 30% or more removal rates may not be sustainable (Cosens et al. 1990), since the early 1980s (Heide-J0rgensen et al. 1993). A and this concern is shared by both the Canada-Greenland bilateral commission for the conservation of shared beluga Joint Commission and the IWC Scientific Committee and narwhal stocks was recently created under a memo­ (IWC 1993). The Canada-Greenland Joint Commission

32 Figure 13. TTiis finless porpoise is one of several that have been brought into captivity from the Yangtze River (Changjiang). Finless porpoises are widely distrib­ uted in inshore, nearshore and freshwater habitats; they are vulnerable to frequent bycatch in fisheries (Wuhan, •*%__• j China, June 1993).

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i 4

Stephen Leatherwood has not yet made any management recommendations with riverine distribution throughout much of the tropical to respect to narwhals but is expected to develop an appro­ warm-temperate Indo-Pacific, from the Arabian Sea to priate conservation regime for at least the Davis Japan (Kasuya in press). It has been little studied (but see Strait/Baffin Bay population. Shirakihara et al. 1993). Several subspecies have been proposed, and the aggregate population is probably dis­ continuous. As Klinowska (1991) suggested, concern Spectacled Porpoise about the status of this species in some of the large Asian {Australophocaena dioptrica) river systems (e.g. Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Yangtze) has been eclipsed by the seemingly more urgent This small porpoise has a fairly broad distribution in sub- problems of conserving other "river" dolphins. However, antarctic and cold temperate waters of the Southern Ocean it is likely that the finless porpoise has been depleted, or (Brownell in press a). The degree of mixing among poi> perhaps even extirpated, in some areas because of habitat ulations that occur near large islands and island groups degradation and incidental capture in fishing gear. Local (e.g. Auckland, Macquarie, Tasmania, Falkland, South fishermen in the mouth of the Indus, for example, reported Georgia, and possibly Kerguelen) is uncertain, as are the already in the early 1970s that the porpoise had "declined degrees of mixing between the groups and the popula- considerably" in that area (Roberts 1977; also see Pilleri tion(s) along the South American mainland (Uruguay and and Pilleri 1979). The sf)ecies reportedly has disappeared Tierra del Fuego). Sightings made far offshore between from large parts of its former range in Thailand (M. 54° and 59° S latitude (IWC 1991) suggest that some Andersen and C.C. Kinze in IWC 1994). Finless porpoises movement across expanses of open ocean may occur. are caught incidentally in Japan, and at least some spieci- These porpoises are very poorly known, and their status mens are discarded by the fishermen rather than being is uncertain in all areas. Some mortality occurs in fishing taken to market (IWC 1984:147). Since 1973, finless por­ gear (Crespo 1991a), but its scale relative to population poises have been live-captured with seine nets in Ise Bay abundance and rate of increase is completely unknown. and the Inland Sea to supply Japanese oceanaria (Kasuya et al. 1984). There is particular concern about direct Finless Porpoise exploitation along the coast of China and about bycatches in fishing gear, especially gillnets, in several parts of the (Neophocaena phocaenoides) species' range (Kasuya in press). A recent review of the The finless porpoise (Fig. 13) has a nearshore, inshore, and status and conservation of the baiji pointed out that simi-

:W>- lar attention should be paid to finless porpoises in the Yangtze River, as they face many of the same threats as baiji (Ellis er a/. 1993).

Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) Harbor porpoises are widely distributed in cold-temperate coastal waters of the Northern Hemisphere (Klinowska in press). The populations in the North Pacific, North Atlantic, and Black Sea/Sea of Azov are geographically isolated from one another, and the first two may be fur­ ther subdivided into regional stocks (Gaskin 1984, Yurick and Gaskin 1987). Many of these regional stocks are affected by incidental catch in fishing gear (Fig. 14), deple­ tion of prey populations, pollution, and other anthro­ pogenic disturbances. Although very large commercial catches of harbor porpoises were once made in the Baltic

Figure 15. Harbor porpoises are hunted regularly along the west coast of Greenland. TTiis hunting, for meat, Is unregulated, and no serious effort has been made to monitor the catch or assess the population(s) (Nuuk, Greenland, 17 September 1987).

and North seas, there is little direct exploitation anywhere today except in west Greenland and the Black Sea. In areas where investigations have been made it appears that harbor porpoise populations are under considerable stress, particularly from conflicts with fisheries. The IWC Scientific Committee conducted a major review of stocks in 1990 (IWC 1991), and the areas of principal concern were addressed again in 1991 (IWC 1992a). The Black Sea/Sea of Azov situation remains of grave concern because of the suspected large removal rates and the general lack of infor­ mation on stock size and status. The directed catch and bycatch off western Greenland are also poorly documented (Fig. 15), as is the size and status of the affected stock in Davis Strait. In western Europe and along both coasts of North America considerable effort has been made in recent years to document and quantify removals and to census Figure 14. Harbor porpoises have been subjected to high levels the populations of harbor porpoises (e.g. Barlow et al. of Incidental mortality in many areas, and some populations are depleted as a result. This animal was taken In a sink gillnet in 1988, Read and Gaskin 1988, Bj0rge and 0ien 1990, ttie Gulf of Maine. Heide-J0rgensen et al. 1992, Forney et al. 1991). The fish-

34 ery bycatch of the porpoise population in the Gulf of Maine have also been taken in nets set for sharks and sierra and Bay of Fundy is probably unsustainable (Marine (Scomberomorus sp.) and in shrimp trawls (Vidal in press, Mammals Investigation 1992, Read et al. 1993). Canada IWC in press a). has listed the species as Threatened in east-coast waters International (mainly Mexico-U.S.) attention has (see Gaskin 1992a), and the United States government has become sharply focused during the past five years on the proposed a similar listing for the Gulf of Maine population need for immediate and decisive action to prevent extinc­ (Marine Mammals Investigation 1992, NMFS news tion of the vaquita. Some of the research and conserva­ release, 30 Dec. 1992). The lack of clear delineation tion initiatives taken to date are summarized in the "New among stocks of harbor porpoises has been a major prob­ Projects" section of this plan. A recovery plan for the lem in assessing fishery impacts. species has been developed in Mexico. It should be noted Because of its inshore and nearshore distribution, its that basic information on absolute papulation size, annual proclivity for becoming caught in gillnets and other fishing removals, and population trend is not adequate and that, gear, and its apparently low rate of increase (IWC 1991), as a consequence, the species' status is in some respects this porpoise is, in spite of its wide distribution and fairly uncertain. However, the results of four independent sur­ large absolute abundance, of great conservation concern. veys indicate that the population is not more than a few The lack of conclusive evidence for population declines hundred animals (Gerrodette et al. 1993, IWC in press a), in areas where either (a) the habitat has been degraded, and it is unquestionably in danger of extinction. (b) large bycatches have occurred, or (c) direct exploitation has been intensive, should not prevent governments from initiating conservation action. Burmeister's Porpoise {Phocoena spinipinnis) Vaquita or Gulf of California This phocoenid is endemic to coastal waters of the South Harbor Porpoise American mainland from northern Peru in the west, around Cape Horn to southern Brazil in the east (Simoes- {Phocoena sinus) Lopes and Ximenez 1993, Brownell in press b). The dis­ The vaquita is endemic to the upper Gulf of California, tribution does not seem to be continuous, and a difference Mexico (Silber 1990, Vidal et al. in press b). It is con­ in maximum body size between porpoises taken in Peru sidered the most critically endangered marine cetacean and Uruguay has been interpreted as reinforcing the idea because of its restricted distribution, small population that there is more than one stock (IWC 1991, Corcuera size, and exploitation as a bycatch in net fisheries (Vidal 1991). Burmeister's porpoise is exploited throughout most in press, IWC in press a). In addition to the continuing of its range as a bycatch in set and drift gillnets. In Peru it problem of entanglement (primarily in gillnets), this por­ is included in the large directed and incidental commer­ poise's habitat has been modified by a variety of human cial take of small cetaceans for meat (Read et al. 1988, activities. A series of dams constructed in the Colorado Van Waerebeek and Reyes 1990, in press, IWC 1992a, in River in the United States has drastically altered the press a. Van Waerebeek et al. 1993). Unknown numbers amount and timing of freshwater input to the partially of Burmeister's porpoises have been killed for use as crab enclosed Gulf of California. Considering the amount of bait in southern Chile (IWC 1991). agricultural and industrial development in the Colorado Conservation concern centers on the areas of Peru and River basin, one would exfject the fresh water that reaches Chile where relatively large directed and incidental takes the upper Gulf to be polluted. Nevertheless, analyses of have been documented. Virtually nothing is known about blubber from vaquitas caught in gillnets have revealed population size or trends in any area. some of the lowest levels of DDT residues and PCBs that have been documented for coastal marine mammals (Calambokidis 1988). This corroborates studies that have Dall's Porpoise shown low pollutant levels in other animals from the Gulf {Phocoenoides dalll) of California (J. Barlow, pers. comm.). Intensive com­ mercial and artisanal fishing has had a severe effect on This species, the largest of the phocoenids, is endemic to some fish stocks, including that of the large sciaenid fish the North Pacific and adjacent seas, where it occurs widely Totoaba macdonaldi which, like the vaquita, is endemic from as far south as west-central Baja California, Mexico, to the upper Gulf and is in danger of extinction. The in the east and northern Japan (including the Sea of Japan) totoaba gillnet fishery has been viewed as the most serious in the west to the southern Bering Sea in the north threat to the vaquita since it has been responsible for much (Jefferson 1988). A color variant, generally called the of the documented porpoise bycatch. However, vaquitas "frMei-type" Dall's pwrpoise, is dominant in some regional

wS populations. As many as eight stocks have been proposed, shortage of whale meat (due to the IWC moratorium) and each centered on what are thought to be major calving for the reduced catch of Stenella coeruleoalba (due to grounds (IWC 1991, 1992a). Dall's porpoises are com­ stock depletion). Approximately 111,500 Dall's porpwises mon throughout much of the northern North Pacific. were removed by hunting during the four-year period Dall's porpoises have been taken in large numbers, over 1986-1989 from two stocks centered in the Okhotsk Sea several decades, by the salmon (northwestern North Pacific (IWC 1991). This level of exploitation would probably and Bering Sea) and squid (central North Pacific and adja­ not be sustainable in view of the 1990 pxjpulation estimates cent seas) driftnet fisheries based in Japan, Taiwan, and totalling 443,000 for the two stocks (IWC 1992a, Korea (IWC 1992a). Estimates of the annual catch cited Miyashita in press). The Japanese government acknowl­ in IWC (1992a) include: 10,000 to 20,000 in the Japanese edged the need to limit the porpoise kill and attempted to high-seas salmon driftnet mothership fishery which began regulate the hand-harpoon fishery beginning in 1989. in 1952; 741 (in 1987) to 4,187 (in 1982) in this fishery Catch levels subsequently decreased from about 40,000 within the U.S. EEZ between 1981 and 1987; an average of in 1988 to 17,634 in 1991 and 11,403 in 1992 (IWC 1994). 1,645 between 1981 and 1986 in the Japanese land-based Because of the large directed catch and their susceptibil­ salmon gillnet fishery; and 6,000 in the multinational squid ity to entanglement in fishing gear, conservation of Dall's driftnet fishery in 1989 (considered possibly to have been porpoises remains a major issue. The high-seas driftnet biased upward). Close to a million Dall's porpoises were fisheries in the North Pacific were to have ceased opera­ estimated to be present in the western and central North tions by the end of 1992. Pacific (between 150° E and 172° W) and Bering Sea dur­ ing the mid-1980s (IWC 1992a). These estimates may have been biased upward by the tendency of porpoises to Pygmy Sperm Whale {Kogia breviceps) approach survey vessels (T.A. Jefferson, pers. comm.). Dwarf Sperm Whale {Kogia simus) Dall's porpoises are not directly exploited in the eastern Pacific. Serious conservation problems are centered in These two small whales are both widely distributed in the the western Pacific, where Dall's porpoises (from five world's oceans, but they are not known to occur in polar putative stocks) have been killed in large numbers not only and subpolar latitudes (Caldwell and Caldwell 1989). in driftnet fisheries but also directly by hand harpoon off They are difficult to see and identify in the wild, and there northern Japan (Fig. 16). The magnitude of bycatches has are no good population estimates except for the eastern proven difficult to estimate precisely, but it has been in tropical Pacific, where a conservative estimate was made the thousands if not tens of thousands in some years (see of about 11,200 dwarf sperm whales in the late 1980s IWC 1992a:212-213). The directed catch intensified (Wade and Gerrodette 1993). Documented exploitation greatly during the 1980s, reportedly to compensate for the has been limited to occasional direct catches in Japan, the Lesser Antilles, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, and to acciden­ tal capture in fishing gear. In Sri Lanka, kogiids were well represented in the landings of small cetaceans at numerous fishing villages during the mid-1980s (Leatherwood and Reeves 1989).

Sperm Whale {Physeter catodon) Sperm whales have a cosmopolitan distribution (Rice 1989). They have a long history of commercial exploita­ tion, and their conservation has always been a major con­ cern of the IWC. Although there is much uncertainty surrounding the identity and status of sperm whale popu­ lations, the species as a whole is not endangered. Artisanal whaling for sperm whales still occurs in Indonesia (Barnes 1991; Fig. 17) and may continue on a small scale in the Figure 16. Dall's porpoises are intensively hunted in Japan, the Lesser Antilles (Price 1985). Synthetic and natural sub­ directed one-year catch having gone above 40,000 in 1988. Two stitutes for sperm oil are now readily available. The main color morphs of the species are easily distinguished—the dalli- type (shown here) and the frue/-type. Both are involved in the incentive for resumed whaling for sp)erm whales in Japan Japanese hand-harpoon fisheries. is to obtain the meat.

36 Figure 17. Sperm whales are among the more valuable targets of a multispecies cetacean fishery. Formerly exploited worldwide, sperm whales are now hunted only on a small scale in a few local­ ities (Lamalera, Indonesia).

Ourant Hembree

Amazon River Dolphin or Boto some stage of construction or planning, especially in Brazil {Inia geoffrensis) (Best and da Silva 1989a). The dolphin population in the upper Madeira has apparently not been studied since the Of the five species of platanistoid river dolphins, this 1970s (Pilleri and Gihr 1977). one appears to be the least endangered at present. Its An initial attempt at coordinated research and conser­ occupied range includes almost the full extent of the vation planning was made at a South American river dol­ Amazon and Orinoco river drainages of South America phin workshop held in Buenos Aires in September 1992 (da (Best and da Silva 1989a, 1989b, 1993, Meade and Silva and Marmontel 1994). The meeting was attended by Koehnken 1991). The boto has not been hunted com­ researchers from three of the seven nations with Inia pop­ mercially, nor has it been subjected to hunting for human ulations. Further discussion of research and conservation subsistence in most areas. However, the protection needs for Inia appears elsewhere in the Action Plan. afforded by traditional beliefs and pre-industrial resource harvesting systems is giving way as settlers penetrate and transform Amazonia and as national governments seek to Baiji or Yangtze River Dolphin develop the region's vast hydroelectric, mineral-extrac­ tion, and agro-forestry potential. Substantial bycatches (Lipotes vexillifei) in commercial and artisanal fisheries have occurred in This species, which is endemic to the Yangtze River, was some areas, but such catches are not well documented very poorly known outside China until the late 1970s and (cf. Kendall 1993, da Silva and Best in press). In any early 1980s (Zhou and Zhang 1991, Chen and Liu 1992; event, fisheries that deplete the fish resources will in turn Fig. 18). It was identified in the first CSG action plan as have an impact on dolphins by changing the structure of the most endangered cetacean, with a total population of their prey communities. about 300 (Perrin 1988). Estimates of the population have Considering the physiographic and orogenic context, continued to decline. In 1993 there were thought to be 200 together with the dolphins' apparently sedentary behav­ or fewer baiji left in existence (Ellis et al. 1993). Surveys ior, it is likely that there is some natural isolation of sub- in late 1993 and early 1994, representing 132 days of effort populations. Best and da Silva (1989a) provisionally and covering 800 km of the Yangtze (approximately half recognized three subspecies: I.g. humboltiana in the of the baiji's historic range), resulted in only three sight­ Orinoco drainage basin, I.g. geoffrensis in the Amazon ings (total of 9 animals) (Liu, pers. comm.). Although drainage basin but not including the upper Madeira River baiji historically inhabited most of the Yangtze, from its drainage, and I.g. boliviensis in the Madeira system above mouth to just below Three Gorges, they very rarely occur Teotonio Rapids. These may be further subdivided into nowadays below Nanjing and above Zicheng. smaller population units. There are no rigorous estimates The status of the species, threats to its survival, and of abundance for any area. However, the Orinoco popu­ options for conservation action were thoroughly reviewed lation is widely distributed in a river system with few arti­ at the river dolphin workshop in Wuhan, China, in 1986 ficial barriers (Meade and Koehnken 1991). Several large (see the report and papers contained in Perrin et al. 1989a). dams are present in the Amazon system, and others are in Mortality in fishing gear (especially bottom snagging long-

37 Figure 18. The face of a baiji, China's critically endangered river dolphin. lines called "rolling hooks"), collisions with vessels, and range in four major river systems of southern Asia: underwater blasting for construction were seen as the chief Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna, and Karnaphuli (Mohan direct threats. In addition, the damming of tributaries, 1989, Shrestha 1989, Reeves and Brownell 1989, Reeves dredging, overfishing, noise and congestion caused by etal. 1993a). This range includes waters under the juris­ human activities, and drainage schemes are thought to dictions of at least four sovereign states: India, Nepal, have reduced the Yangtze's ability to support a large pop­ Bangladesh, and Bhutan. Many dams and barrages have ulation of baiji. Pollution from the millions of riverside been built on tributaries of the Ganges, and these have sub­ residents threatens to undermine conservation efforts. divided the population to some extent. In addition, con­ Since 1986, the Chinese government has proceeded with struction of Farakka Barrage in the mainstem of the development of the controversial Three Gorges dam, Ganges during the 1970s created a barrier to dispersal at which is expected to make an additional 200 km of the approximately the geographical center of the species' middle Yangtze uninhabitable for baiji (Chen and Hua range. This barrage has also dramatically changed the 1987). Also since 1986, dolphins have continued to die hydrologic regime downstream in areas that were impor­ in "rolling hooks" and other fishing gear and from colli­ tant, at least historically, to the dolphin population. A high sions with vessels (Ellis etal. 1993). dam (Kaptai) has seriously affected the dolphin population Efforts to conserve the Yangtze River dolphin, which in the Karnaphuli River, which may be a discrete stock now include the development of at least one natural (Ahmed 1992). reserve, "semi-natural reserves," and facilities for captive In addition to the problems associated with barrage and breeding, are discussed under "New Projects." dam construction, the Ganges River dolphin experiences high mortality in fishing gear in many areas, and it is hunted in at least parts of the Brahmaputra (Mohan 1992a, Ganges River Dolphin or Susu Sinha 1992, Biswas and Michael 1992, Dey et al. 1992, Mohan et al. 1993; Fig. 19). The strong demand for its {Platanista gangetica) products—mainly oil to use as fishbait, medicine, or lini­ The Ganges River dolphin occupies a fairly extensive ment—means that there is little incentive among fisher-

38 Figure 19. Susus are fre­ V quently killed in fishing nets in the Ganges River. These two animals, a large female (A) (27 March 1992) and a young male (B) (6 October 1992), were taken near Patna, India. Note the very long, upturned beak of the adult female and the straighter, more moderate-length beak of the juvenile.

JBD^F H|'> ' ^y ,,^^ 1 Vi -^K^l^^^HiteAL^^ML ^ i \K. ^ J• Figure 19A.

Indus River Dolphin or Bhulan {Platanista minoi) The extent of this dolphin's occupied habitat (in terms of linear km of river) has diminished by approximately 80% during the past century (Khan and Niazi 1989, Chaudhry and Khalid 1989, Reeves et al. 1991). Since the partition­ ing of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, Pakistan has, with much international support, transformed the Indus Basin into a managed aqueduct for irrigation and power genera­ tion. The economic needs of an expanding human soci­ ety are thus balanced against this highly endangered dolphin's need for habitat. The aggregate population of a few hundred Indus River dolphins is subdivided by barrages into isolated subpopu- lations. In the province of Punjab they currently exist in two (possibly three) subpopulations totaling perhaps 150 (Chaudhry 1992). In Sind they are most abundant within Figure 19B. the 170-km-long dolphin reserve between the barrages at Rohri (Guddu Barrage) and Sukkur (Lloyd Barrage), with small numbers also present downstream of Sukkur to Thatta district (Khan and Niazi 1989, Mirza as cited in men to reduce the bycatch or to release dolphins that are Reeves e/a/. 1993a). Some direct and incidental catch still alive when found in nets. Pollution and ship traffic occurs in spite of legal protection (Reeves et al. 1991). may be contributing to the decline of dolphins in some However, the most immediate threats to the species come areas (cf. Smith 1993). from anthropogenic effects on its habitat. Research and This species is classified as Vulnerable in the RDB conservation initiatives taken to date, and further required, (Klinowska 1991). There is little doubt that it has declined are discussed elsewhere in this Action Plan. in much of its range, and the threats to its survival continue to develop and grow. At a meeting in 1992 it was recom­ mended that the RDB classification be re-evaluated to con­ Franciscana sider this species for Endangered status (Reeves et al. {Pontoporia blainvillei) 1993a). Discussion of research and conservation initia­ tives appears elsewhere in this Action Plan. This small cetacean is one of the platanistoid "river" dol-

39 phins, but it occurs only in coastal marine and estuarine waters along the east coast of South America between southern Brazil and northern Argentina (Pinedo et al. 1989, Brownell 1989). It is of particular conservation concern due to its restricted distribution, spanning only about 20 degrees of latitude, and its vulnerability to cap­ ture in fishing gear. Large numbers of franciscanas are killed in gillnets (Fig. 20). Although the largest catches have been documented in Uruguay, catch levels are thought to be dangerously high in parts of Brazil and Argentina as well (Praderi et al. 1989, Macri and Crespo 1989, Monzon and Corcuera 1991). No population esti­ mates are available. In fact, few researchers have seen living specimens at sea, and there is an urgent need to develop means of surveying or otherwise monitoring the status of franciscana populations. The franciscana has complete legal protection in Brazil and Argentina. However, throughout most of its range the greatest single threat to the species appears to be incidental catch. Scientists in all three countries where the franciscana occurs are aware of the need for both more research and conservation action, but they ^*f»>!^ need external support. Figure 20. Franciscanas are limited in their range to the coastal waters of northern Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil. In nearly all parts of this range they are subjected to entanglement Arnoux's Beaked Whale in gillnets (Shark fishery, Punta del Diablo, Uruguay). {Berardius arnuxii) This species is widely distributed in the Southern Ocean from the edge of the antarctic pack ice north to approxi­ (hunted), Okhotsk Sea (hunted), and Sea of Japan mately 34° S (IWC 1989, Balcomb 1989). In compari­ (Kasuya and Miyashita 1989). A Japanese national quota son with the generally sympatric species Hyperoodon of 40 whales per year was established in 1983, and this planifrons, Arnoux's beaked whale is regarded as uncom­ was increased to 60 in 1988, then reduced to 54 in 1990 mon. Arnoux's beaked whale has never been exploited (IWC 1992a). Catch-per-unit-effort data do not show a on a significant scale, and no conservation problem is evi­ clear trend, so it is not known whether the stocks off Japan dent at present. are stable or decreasing (IWC 1989). Surveys have indi­ cated a total population in the western North Pacific and adjacent seas of somewhat less than 6,000 whales, so the Baird's Beaked Whale removal rate has been around 1% in recent years. The Japanese hunt is subject to continued review by the IWC (Berardius bairdil) Scientific Committee although Japan does not officially This whale is found only in the North Pacific, mainly north recognize IWC competence to provide management of 34° N in the west and 28° N in the east (IWC 1989, advice for this species. 1992a, Balcomb 1989). It is a deep-water species that has been subjected to whaling from shore stations in both North America and Asia. Soviet factory ships and shore Northern Bottlenose Whale stations took small numbers through the early 1970s. In {Hyperoodon ampullatus) the eastern Pacific these whales have not been hunted dur­ ing the past 25 years. However, some are known to die in The northern bottlenose whale is endemic to the boreal high-seas drift nets and in coastal gillnets (IWC 1989). and subarctic North Atlantic (Mead 1989b, Reeves et al. The present focus of concern for conservation of 1993b). It was intensively hunted, particularly by Baird's beaked whale is on Japan, where a traditional hunt Norway, beginning in the late 19th century. The (Freeman 1988), involving two of three putative stocks, Norwegian hunt for bottlenose whales ended in the early continues. The three proposed stocks are: western Pacific 1970s, and the species has been protected by the IWC

40 since 1977 (despite its being a "small cetacean"). A few Beaked Whales whales have been killed at the Faroe Islands in recent (Genus Mesoplodon) years (Olafsson 1990, IWC 1991), but otherwise the ban has been effective. The biology and ecology of this poorly known group of at The aggregate population of bottlenose whales in the least 12 species was reviewed recently by Mead (1989c) North Atlantic is considered depleted, but no detailed and by the IWC's Sub-committee on Small Cetaceans assessment has ever been made. The species is not in (IWC 1989). Reyes et al. (1991) recently described the immediate danger of extinction and is still locally abun­ new species M. peruvianas from the eastern Pacific. dant in at least some portions of its range (e.g. see Although whales of this genus have been taken occasion­ Gunnlaugsson and Sigurjonsson 1990, Whitehead 1990). ally by small-type whalers and are sometimes killed in The small number (ca. 300) of northern bottlenose whales fishing gear, no specific conservation problems have been present year-round in a small area of the Gully off Nova identified. Documented bycatches off California (and pre­ Scotia, Canada, may be isolated from other populations sumably off the west coast of Baja California) have been (Whitehead 1990, H. Whitehead, pers. comm.). This high enough in recent years to cause concern (J. Barlow, group of whales could be affected by a nearby shipping pers. comm.). It is impossible to evaluate the status of route and by activities associated with oil and gas discov­ any of the species in the genus without better information eries within 20 km of their core area (Faucher and on abundance, mortality, and rates of increase. Whitehead 1991, Faucher and Weilgart 1992).

Shepherd's Beaked Whale Southern Bottlenose Whale {Tasmacetus shepherd!) {Hyperoodon planifrons) This whale probably has a circumpolar distribution in the Southern bottlenose whales have an extensive distribution cold-temperate Southern Ocean, but it is very poorly throughout the Southern Ocean from Antarctica north to known (Mead 1989a, IWC 1989). Nothing is known about about 30° S (IWC 1989, Mead 1989b). They have not the current status or conservation problems of this species. been exploited on a significant scale and are considered abundant. The status of "bottlenose" whales observed in the tropical Pacific is of scientific interest. These whales Cuvler's Beaked Whale are similar in appearance to Hyperoodon, but no speci­ {Ziphius cavirosMs) men has been examined to establish their taxonomic iden­ tity (IWC 1989, Miyashita and Balcomb 1988). If they are This cosmopolitan species is probably the most widely dis­ H. planifrons, they may be a discrete stock, or alternatively tributed of the beaked whales (Heyning 1989). In the east­ this area may be a part of the winter range of the species ern tropical Pacific it is the most-frequently-sighted (Sekiguchi et al. 1993). If they are not H. planifrons, they medium'Sized cetacean, and in the Northern Hemisphere could be a new species. strandings of this species are approximately as frequent as strandings of all other ziphiid species combined (IWC 1989). Cuvier's beaked whales have been killed by small- Longman's Beaked Whale type whalers off Japan and are occasionally taken by arti- (Indopacetus pacificus) sanal whalers elsewhere (e.g. Lesser Antilles, Indonesia). Relatively small numbers are also killed accidentally in The existence of this whale has been established only on fishing gear (e.g. in Sri Lanka and in the Mediterranean the basis of two skulls found on beaches in the South Sea). The bycatch off California (and possibly Baja Pacific (Queensland, Australia) and western Indian California) has been high enough to cause concern, and (Somalia) oceans (Mead 1989c). It is either rare, elusive, better information is needed to evaluate this situation (J. or cryptic (pwssibly all of these). Barlow, pers. comm.).

•m, Chapter 5 Recommended Conservation Action

Progress and Status of New Projects: Previously Identified Projects CSG Action Plan, 1994-1998 In the versions of the CSG Action Plan published previ­ Critically Endangered Species ously, 45 specific projects needing initiation or assistance were identified (Perrin 1988, 1989). Since then, an addi­ Four species of cetacean are considered critically endan­ tional 15 projects have been incorpwrated within the Plan. gered: baiji, vaquita, bhulan, and northern right whale. As In Table 2 we summarize progress and status of the 60 pro­ far as the CSG's mission is concerned, each of these jects under active management by the CSG from 1988 species has a somewhat different status. through 1993. Of this total, fifteen projects are completed or initiated and no longer require direct attention from the Right Whales CSG (numbers 1,8,11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 40, 41, 42, Al, The conservation of right whales is an international A2, Al 1, and A15). Twenty-three projects are underway, responsibility that is best pursued within the framework most of them with at least partial funding, and some of provided by the IWC. At a special meeting sponsored by these are partially completed (numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 17, 19, the IWC in 1983, experts agreed on the status of right 22, 23, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 43, 44, 45, A7, whales, identified ongoing problems, and outlined A8, and A14). Nine projects have been removed from the research and conservation needs (IWC 1986b). It is Action Plan (numbers 7,12, 13, 29,39, A6, AlO, A12, and important that the CSG call attention to the fact that some A13), some of them because they have been incorporated right whale populations are small and need to be protected within new projects in this Action Plan and some because and closely monitored. Current threats are related more they are considered less urgent now than they were in to habitat degradation (including bycatch in fishing gear, 1988. A proposal for Project 6 is currently under review. ship collisions, etc.) than to direct exploitation. National The remaining 12 "old" projects are still in an early stage governments and relevant international organizations are of development or have not yet begun to be developed encouraged to assume the responsibility for reducing these (numbers 9, 10, 15, 24, 25, 26, 31, 38, A3, A4, A5, and threats. Three projects explicitly concerned with right A9). (Note: The status shown in Table 2 was current in whales are identified in the Action Plan. approximately September 1993.) For more detailed descriptions of Projects 1-45, the Project 1 reader is referred to Perrin (1988, 1989). To prevent con­ Investigate Cintra Bay Ground fusion, the new Action Plan is treated here as a discrete for wintering right whales list of "new" projects, numbered from 1 to 51. In cases Based solely on logbook records of 19th-century where an "old" project has been continued, incorporated, American whalers, the coastal and inshore waters of pre­ or replaced by a "new" project, it is so indicated by a par­ sent-day Western Sahara are thought to provide a winter­ enthetical reference to the "old" project number. ing and nursery ground for North Atlantic right whales.

42 Table 2 Status of the 45 original CSG (Perrin 1988,1989) projects, and the 15 added during 1990-1993.

No. Short Title Status Funding*

1 Conservation of vaquita Ongoing, by others 2,3,4.5,6,7,8,18

2 Crab bait in southern Ongoing, partially funded 1.2,9 South America

3 Cetacean catches in Peru Ongoing, partially funded 7,10

4 Mortality in coastai fisheries in Brazil Ongoing, partially funded 1,9,17

5 Incidental mortality of franciscana Ongoing, partially funded 9

6 Fishery interactions in Argentina Under review by prospective sponsors

7 Right whales in Argentina Removed 8 Regional cooperation on franciscana Ongoing, by others ^' ^ 1,7,17

9 Franciscana surveys Under development ^ 1,2,7.17 10 River dolphin mortality in Brazilian Amazon Under development ^ 1,2.7.13,17

11 Conservation areas in Brazilian Amazon Ongoing, by others

12 Legislation on South American Removed river dolphins 13 Enforcement of protective laws in Removed South America 14 Dialogue on South American river Ongoing ^ 1,2,7, 17 dolphin conservation 15 Common dolphins in Mediterranean Sea Under development

16 Bottlenose dolphins in Natal, South Africa Ongoing, by others 12

17 Mortality in West Africa Ongoing, partially funded 1,7,17

18 Dolphins in Taiwan Ongoing, by others

19 Gillnet catches in Sri Lanka Ongoing, by others

20 Gillnet catches in India Ongoing, by others

21 Dwarf spinner dolphins in Thailand Ongoing, by others

22 River dolphin surveys in India Ongoing ° 7,9,17,20

23 Alternatives to dolphin oil in India Ongoing c. d 7,9,17,19

24 Brahmaputra River dolphin sanctuaries Under development ^ 7.9,17

43 No. Short Title Status Funding*

25 Effects of dams on river dolphins in India Under development ^ 7,9,17

26 River dolphin surveys in Bangladesh Under development *^ 7,9,17

27 River dolphin surveys in Nepal Ongoing, partially funded '^ 7.9,11,17

28 Dolphin habitat protection in Nepal Ongoing, partially funded ^ 7.9, 11, 17

29 Use of dolphin oil in Nepal Removed

30 Regional river dolphin committee Ongoing ^ 7,9,17

31 lUCN river dolphin project in Indian Under development Subcontinent

32 Reverse dolphin decline in Punjab, Pakistan Ongoing, partially funded ^ 7.9,14,17

33 River dolphins in Sind, Pakistan Ongoing, partially funded ^ 7,9,17,21,22

34 Reduce baiji mortality Ongoing ® 22

35 Studies for Shishou Ijaiji reserve Ongoing ® 22

36 Monitoring baiji population Ongoing « 22,23

37 Ba^i population structure and movements Ongoing ® 22,23

38 Surveys of marine cetaceans in China Under development 22

39 Workshop on small cetaceans in Japan Removed

40 Mortality of Hector's dolphins Ongoing, by others'

41 Mortality of cetacearis in passive Completed 1 fishing gear

42 Taxonomy and (Sstribution of genus Sousa Ongoing, by others 12

43 River f^jnas in development projects Ongoing 9

44 Effects of development on coastal cetaceans Ongoing, partially funded 7

45 Censusing methods Ongoing, partially funded 11,22

A1 Biology of Sousa in Natal, South Africa Ongoing, by others

A2 Dolphin mortality in Sea of Cortez Ongoing, by others

A3 Salmon pens in dolphin habitat in Chile Under development

A4 Susu in Orissa, India Under development ^ 7.9,17

A5 Irrawaddy dolphins in GhJIka Lake, India Under development ^ 7.9,17

A6 Effects of pollution on cetaceans Removed

A7 Reintroduction of tonglines in northern Peru Ongoing, partially funded 7,9.17

A8 Cetaceans in Philippines Ongoing, partially funded 7,9.15.16,17,24

44 No, Short Title Status Funding*

A9 Hump-backed dolphins in West Africa Under development

A10 Fur seal products for crab bait Removed

A11 River dolphins in Colombiai Ongoing, by others

A12 SotaM in Casiquiare Canal Removed

A13 Meeting on small cetacear»s Removed

A14 Ecology of river dolphins in Peru Ongoing, partially funded 11.17

A15 Workshop on South American river dolphins Completed ^ 1,2,7,17

* Key to funding sources 1-UNEP; 2-U.S. State Dept.; 3*Chicago Zoological Society; 4-Blum-Kovler Foundation; 5-American Cetacean Society, Los Angeles; 6-Oceans Unlimited; 7-Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society; 8-Cetacean Society International; 9-Greenpeace Environmental Trust; 10-Greenpeace International; 11-Oceanic Society Expeditions; 12-South African Nature Fund; 13-Earthwatch; 14-WWF Pakistan; 15-Earth Island Institute; 16-Earth Trust; 17-lUCN/CSG Fund Raising Campaign; 18-Conservation International; 19-Environmentat Investigation Agency; 20-George Williamson and Co., Ltd; 21 -People's Trust for Endangered Species; 22-Ocean Park Conservation Foundation; 23-World Wide Fund for Nature (International); 24-Haribon Conservation Foundatkan.

Workshop held in Buenos Aires, September 1992. See Crespo (1994) and da Silva and Marmontel (1994). Funds expended for workshop; specifk; proposals being developed based on workshop recommendations. Workshop heW in New Delhi, AugiJSt 1992. Simple test completed; additional fi&ld and promotional work required. Funding provided by Chinese government and various foreign groups; CSG active in development and placement of proposals for Chinese workers. Fully funded by New Zealand government.

^;:j::::^:;:l;!^;o^^::•v^:•^v;^•:^;mr;•:•;•^&;;:;;;^

No surveys have been conducted to determine whether should be initiated to determine the status of the environ­ right whales still come to Cintra Bay and vvhether the envi­ ment in Cintra Bay and to assess threats to the area's suit­ ronment there is still hospitable to them. With the recent ability as right whale habitat. end of civil war along this coast, it is once again feasible to conduct research in Cintra Bay and nearby waters. A ded­ Project 2 icated vessel or aerial survey needs to be carried out at the Locate an additional "nursery" for right appropriate season. Right whales were observed by whales in the western North Atlantic whalers between November and April, with a possible The high rate of encounters with vessels and fishing gear peak in sightings in January-February (Reeves and documented for the right whale population off eastern Mitchell 1986). Whales wintering at Cintra Bay almost North America has hindered its recovery (Kraus 1990). certainly belong to an eastern North Atlantic stock, which Although efforts are being made to modify human activi­ would mean that they migrate along European coasts. ties in some areas used by right whales, not all areas of Besides simply trying to "rediscover" right whales on the high use by the whales have been identified. Of particu­ Cintra Bay Ground, the survey team should make every lar importance is the fact that one of the two subgroups of effort to photoidentify and obtain skin biopsies (for DNA reproductively active females in this papulation apparently stock analysis) from any whales observed. Research does not bring its first-year calves to the well-known sum-

4S Figure 21. The vaquita, a small porpoise endemic to the northern Gulf of California, is one of the most critically endangered cetaceans. Gillnets set to catch totoaba, a valuable food fish, have been consid­ ered the main threats to the vaquita in recent years (Golfo de Santa Clara, Sonora, Mexico).

Alejandro Robles

mer nursery area in the Bay of Fundy (Schaeff ef a/. 1993). documented for right whales in the western North Pacific The other nursery area needs to be located so that any nec­ and Okhotsk Sea, as there has been for some populations essary protective measures can be extended to it. Since the in the Southern Hemisphere (see Best 1993). stock moves seasonally between U.S. and Canadian Additional data on these and any other past catches waters, it is most appropriate that investigators from these need to be collected and analyzed. Also, a dedicated ves­ two countries be involved in the search. It is also possible sel survey in the appropriate areas and at the appropriate that the area being sought is in Greenlandic, Icelandic, or time of year is needed to provide information on the cur­ international waters (cf. Knowlton et al. 1992); thus rent population's distribution and numbers. To the extent broader international participation would be appropriate. feasible, such a survey should be designed to obtain simi­ lar information on the endangered stocks of gray whales Project 3 and bowheads in the Okhotsk Sea and adjacent waters. Investigate the status of right whale population(s) in the western North Paciflc The status of right whales in the Okhotsk Sea, as well as The CSG has taken a more direct role in conservation in other parts of the North Pacific, has been uncertain for efforts for the other three critically endangered cetaceans. many years. During the 1983 IWC workshop, the west­ ern North Pacific population was guessed to be in the range of 100-200 animals (IWC 1986b). Two cases of ille­ Vaquita gal and previously unreported catches of right whales by In the case of the vaquita (Fig. 21), significant progress Soviet whaling operations in the North Pacific are now during the past five years has culminated in acceptance known (Yablokov 1994). One Soviet factory ship took by the Mexican government of responsibility for taking several hundred right whales in the Okhotsk Sea during the appropriate conservation actions. In February 1992, fol­ 1960s. Also, right whales were processed at a land sta­ lowing a meeting between the President of Mexico and tion on Paramuschir Island in the northern Kuril Islands concerned scientists and environmental groups, the during at least the late 1950s. Few details about these Mexican fisheries agency reaffirmed the ban on the use of catches have been brought to light. However, such illegal large-mesh totoaba nets in the northern Gulf of California. exploitation may help explain why no recovery has been Such nets had been the principal source of vaquita mor-

46 tality for many years. However, porpoises are also caught arranged through the CSG, and the CSG has been closely in other fishing gear, and there is concern that effort will be involved in the program's formulation and initial direction. re-directed from catching totoabas to catching large sharks Conservation International has assumed the chief respon­ and rays in nets that threaten vaquitas (cf. Vidal 1993). sibility for receiving and disbursing funds and for directly Fishing activities are being monitored and the ban on supervising the work of the consortium. The status of the totoaba fishing enforced by the Mexican navy. In June vaquita was reviewed by the IWC Scientific Committee 1993 the Mexican government declared the upper Gulf of in 1994 (IWC in press a). California as a Biosphere Reserve. Among the explicit The CSG continues to regard the vaquita's situation as objectives of the reserve is to provide permanent protec­ grave, and the group will remain involved in efforts to con­ tion to endemic species such as the vaquita. serve the species. However, at this time no new vaquita An international consortium of scientists has initiated projects are identified for action by the CSG in 1994-1998. a comprehensive program for studying and conserving the vaquita. An important component of the program is the development of mechanisms for compensating and creat­ Baiji ing alternative livelihoods for fishermen affected by the The extinction crisis facing the baiji (Fig. 22) has wors­ regulations. Partial funding for the program has been ened over the past 5-10 years, although no time series of

Figure 22. The future looks bleak for the baiji, which is probably the rarest dolphin in the world. "Qi Qi," the only baijl to have adapted to life in captivity, has been photographed from every angle and has thus provided Westerners with the best view they are likely ever to have of this vanishing treasure.

47 rigorous population estimates is available to document the obviously declining trend. In the previous version of the Action Plan, four projects were identified that explicitly concerned the baiji (Perrin 1988). These had been formu­ lated in the light of recommendations made at the 1986 river dolphin workshop (Perrin and Brownell 1989). Work on these and other projects related to baiji conser­ vation has been conducted independently by scientists rep­ resenting two research groups: the National Environment Protection Agency (Nanjing Normal University and the Tongling Semi-natural Reserve) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Department of River Dolphin Research, Institute of Hydrobiology, Wuhan, and Shishou Semi- natural Reserve). In June 1993, a Population and Habitat Viability Assessment Workshop was held to reevaluate the baiji's status and develop a plan for ensuring its survival Figure 23. Bottom longlines set to snag bottom-feeding fish in and recovery (Ellis eM/. 1993). The following six projects the Yangtze River are a major threat to baiji as well as finless have been adopted from the workshop's report: porpoises. The cetaceans apparently become entangled by the "rolling hook" gear as they investigate snagged fish. Project 4 Conduct comprehensive population surveys of the bayi There remains an urgent need to know the present size should be updated regularly, and reports on re-identified and to monitor future trends in the wild baiji population animals circulated widely. This effort requires the coop­ throughout the species' range. Replicate surveys should eration of all workers active in baiji research. be conducted along the entire river (surveys of portions of the river do not yield conclusive results) by teams, each Project 6 consisting of representatives of both groups engaged in Establish and maintain natural reserves for the baiji baiji research and conservation. Surveys will require The entire Yangtze system cannot be protected. However, approximately 60 days to complete, and they should be baiji occur in patches and are not uniformly or randomly repeated every 5-10 years (any change in abundance over distributed, so protection of discrete reaches of the river shorter intervals would likely be undetectable). Details of has been considered one appropriate strategy for conserv­ survey design should be agreed on well in advance of the ing the species in situ. A natural reserve for baiji has been surveys, following review by competent experts in surveys established in the Yangtze between Xintanhou and of dolphins, particularly river dolphins. Because these sur­ Luoshan, and a second is under consideration near veys will cover the range of the finless porpoise in the Tongling. Conservation centers have been established in Yangtze, data should also be collected on sightings of that these and five other areas of special interest (Wang 1993, species. In addition to their primary objectives, the sur­ Ellis et al. 1993). Consideration should be given to estab­ veys will help to delineate areas worthy of protection as lishing still other reserves, as results of population sur­ natural reserves and contribute to knowledge of the baiji's veys indicate. However, to be effective, such sanctuaries biology and behavior. must cover all or most of the home ranges of the animals that live within them and must be adequately patrolled to Project 5 ensure that prohibitions against activities harmful to dol­ Compile individually-identifiable photographs of baiji phins are enforced (Fig. 23). Previous experience with ter­ High-quality photographs of identifiable individuals, col­ restrial reserves demonstrates the importance of training lected with due consideration for potential sampling bias, staff and ensuring that they are adequately equipped, paid, and motivated. can provide an alternative way of estimating population size. They can also provide insight into individual move­ ments, group structure, site fidelity, etc. Some pho­ Project 7 tographs of wild baiji already exist. Others should be Establish and maintain "semi-natural reserves" taken, both as part of any surveys and capture expeditions for the baiji and on dedicated cruises to areas of concentration for life- In anticipation of the fact that protection of baiji in the history studies. All suitable images should be assembled at Yangtze will not be adequate to slow or reverse population a central location. A catalogue of identifiable individuals decline, two "semi-natural reserves" are being developed.

48 The one in the oxbow at Shishou has been successfully pxarpoises have been successfully maintained in the reserve tested with finless porpoises (Fig. 24). Resettlement of for at least one year and shown evidence of breeding there, the fishing community along the banks of the oxbow will (2) water quality within the reserve has been certified as be completed immediately upon release of baiji into the acceptable, and (3) a reliable, long-term supply of fish of reserve. Construction of the dikes across the channels high nutritional quality can be assured. connecting the oxbow and the main river are scheduled to be completed in 1994-1995. After the Nanjing meet­ Project 8 ing in 1993, the authorities at Wuhan had decided to wait Develop a captive-breeding program for the baiji for the dikes to be completed before removing the finless Even though captive breeding of cetaceans is far from rou­ porpoises from Shishou Reserve and replacing them with tine and is unlikely to result in net gains to the baiji popu­ baiji captured in the river. However, in view of the lation in the foreseeable future, there is now considerable extremely low numbers of baiji seen during the surveys in momentum to capture baiji for two "oceanarium" facili­ late 1993 and early 1994, it has now been recommended ties, one at Tongling and another at Wuhan. It has been that the schedule for capturing baiji and introducing them strongly recommended that such facilities be fully tested into the reserve be accelerated (Leatherwood 1994). with captive finless porpoises and only then be stocked, at Further, until other suitable baiji reserves are developed, all least initially, with baiji that have been rehabilitated after baiji that are live-captured in the river should be placed in stranding or being taken accidentally in fishing gear. The Shishou Reserve. overall goal of baiji conservation efforts has been stated Further development of the Tongling Reserve should to be the preservation of the species in the wild. "Semi- follow the recommendations of the Nanjing Workshop natural reserves" are seen as "half way houses" from (Ellis et al. 1993), in particular the caution that baiji not which, ideally, surplus animals will be used to restock the be introduced into the reserve unless and until (1) finless natural, wild population. Captive-breeding efforts are intended for the same purpose. Therefore, any captive- breeding program should follow closely the recommen­ dations of the Nanjing Workshop (Ellis era/. 1993). And, difficult as it might be, people involved in these programs should be prepared to abandon captive-breeding efforts if the costs to the wild populations exceed the benefits, in terms of surplus stock for reintroduction and knowledge that enhances breeding in the "semi-natural reserves."

Project 9 Monitor the populations of baiji in "semi-natural reserves" Once baiji have been introduced into a "semi-natural reserve," it will become necessary to monitor closely how they adapt and behave. The success of the "semi- natural-reserve" concept will be judged by how well the animals survive and how regularly they reproduce. The Shishou reserve is bordered by a ridge that is sufficiently high to permit viewing across the entire reserve during the low-water season and of at least the deep-water areas year-round. Thus a shore-based program of observation should be used to supplement a vessel-based program at Shishou. The reserve at Tongling is so small that animals in it can be easily monitored from shore. Results of these monitoring programs (area use, social behavior, repro­ ductive activity, calf behavior, etc.) can be used in mak­ Figure 24. It has been strongly recommended that facilities ing decisions about whether to continue and how to developed primarily for the endangered baiji should first be used modify the development of these (and other?) "semi-nat­ to maintain finless porpoises, such as the one shown here. Baiji ural reserves." It has been recommended that investiga­ should be introduced to aquaria and "semi-natural reserves" only tors resist the temptation to capture and handle baiji after it has been demonstrated that water quality, feeding, and husbandry practices are satisfactory for keeping the porpoises within these "semi-natural reserves" except in emergen­ alive and In good health (Wuhan, China, June 1993). cies affecting the animals' survival.

49 The Chinese government is following recommenda­ ability and to improve its chances for long-term survival. tions developed in consultation with the international sci­ Project 33 in the previous Action Plan (Perrin 1988:15), entific and conservation communities. The CSG will calling for expanded river dolphin research in Sind, was continue to help in the shaping of specific projects, encour­ never implemented. The matter now requires urgent atten­ aging and finding support for needed expertise from out­ tion. It is especially important that effort be directed at side China, and brokering external financial support. It is evaluating and improving the survey methodology and that important to emphasize that the time-scales of "semi-nat­ any suggestion of a trend in the subpopulation be verified. ural reserves" and captive-breeding projects are large. At In addition, work along the lines suggested by Reeves et least decades of reliable and continuous financial, political, al. (1991) for determining downstream "escapement" from and technical support will be necessary to achieve the goal the Reserve through barrages should be initiated. Staff of of providing surplus baiji from "semi-natural reserves" and the Sind Wildlife Management Board should be involved captivity to augment the natural, wild population. in all aspects of the project.

Project 11 Bhulan Investigate continuing threats to river dolphins Relatively little new work on the Indus River dolphin has in Punjab, Pakistan ("old" Project 32) been done since the early 1980s when the WWF/IUCN- A statement by the IWC Subcommittee on Small sponsored project led by G. Pilleri ended. The Sind Cetaceans (IWC 1992a:204-205) provides an appropriate Wildlife Management Board has continued monitoring the project description, as follows: "International support is population within the Dolphin Reserve between Guddu and urgently needed for developing a program of field Sukkur barrages, and the Punjab Wildlife Research Centre research that addresses immediate management problems. has conducted regular counts of dolphins upstream of Research should include (1) continued regular monitoring Guddu Barrage since 1987. Although recent reports from of population size and distribution, (2) non-invasive Punjab have offered a more favorable prognosis for dol­ efforts to identify and track the movements and activities phins in that province than the one given in Perrin (1988), of individual dolphins, (3) estimating calf production and the situation in Sind may be deteriorating (Mirza 1992). calf mortality, (4) identifying limiting habitat parame­ The two bhulan projects in the previous Action Plan ters, (5) precisely mapping and monitoring existing uti­ ("old" numbers 32 and 33) have been brought forward in lized and vacant habitat along the full length of the river, revised form, and their level of urgency has been reversed. (6) determining and quantifying the cause(s) of mortality generally, determining whether the subpopulations are Project 10 increasing or decreasing and projecting future trends in Investigate distribution, abundance, and habitat the subpopulations. Potential reserve areas need to be sur­ quality of river dolphins in Sind, Pakistan veyed and appropriate reports and recommendations pre­ ("old" Project 33) pared. The advisability and feasibility of creating ways to It was recommended in 1992 that a new, complete census allow mixing of the artificial subpopulations should be be conducted in the Sind Dolphin Reserve and that inves­ studied, perhaps as a component of the hydroelectric tigators from outside Sind be involved (Reeves et al. development work being supported with foreign capital 1993a). Particularly during the low-water periods, it has (Reeves e/fl/. 1991). become increasingly difficult to protect the dolphins as "Enforcement and strengthening of existing protective they are sometimes trapped in by-rivers and shallow laws and creation of additional reserves should be high pri­ depressions (Mirza 1992). Also, dolphins have been orities. International support may be needed to ensure ade­ reported from Thatta district, downstream of the last bar­ quate staffing, training and equipping of wardens. Further rage before the Indus meets the sea. If confirmed, such withdrawals of water from the main river channels for irri­ reports would most likely indicate that dolphins have been gation, power plant cooling or any other domestic or swept downstream past the barrages at Sukkur (the down­ industrial use should be minimized. The Government of stream limit of the Reserve) and Hyderabad, with virtu­ Pakistan and the international aid agencies involved in ally no prospect of returning upstream as water levels supporting development projects in the Indus basin should decline. Because the dolphin subpopulations in Sind, be made aware of the river dolphin's precarious status, them.selves totalling only a few hundred, represent the bulk required to assess the likely impact of the projects on dol­ of what remains of the species, it is extremely important phins and dolphin habitat, and encouraged to make every that the situation there be closely monitored and that any effort to reduce or eliminate any deleterious effects." problems be identified and resolved as quickly as possible Aspects of this project description can be considered to prevent further depletion of the species' genetic vari- to apply equally to Project 10.

50 Other Platanistoids as one of its first goals, arrange for and supervise a com­ (Susu, Boto, Franciscana) plete survey of susus throughout the four range states. Since a number of investigators from different coun­ The other three platanistoid dolphins in addition to the baiji tries will need to be involved (preferably working simul­ and bhulan are not known to be critically endangered. taneously), it is important that they use standard survey However, all three are exploited, their habitats are deteri­ designs, methods, and terminology. A manual on susu sur­ orating (especially those of the susu and boto), and much veying techniques would be a useful tool for achieving scientific uncertainty surrounds their current conservation standardization. In advance of preparing such a manual, status (especially that of the franciscana). Numerous pro­ several replicate upstream and downstream surveys should jects centered on these species were included in the previ­ be done of a single section of river within a short period ous Action Plan, and some progress has been made (see of time. This would provide some information on the vari­ Table 2). Meetings held in 1992 (Reeves et al. 1993a, da ability in direct counts or particular sampling schemes. It Silva and Marmontel 1994, Crespo 1994) provided con­ has been suggested that the section of the Sarda River servation and research recommendations that were used (Mahakali in Nepal) between the Sarda Barrage in as the basis for many of the projects on platanistoid dol­ Bonvasa and the Sarda Nagar Barrage might be an ideal phins included in this Action Plan. It is felt that the location for this set of surveys (B.D. Smith, pers. comm.). essence of "old" Projects 8 (Regional coordination of fran­ Another component of the project should be an attempt ciscana research), 30 (Establishment of an Asian River to investigate previously unsurveyed river systems such Dolphin Committee), and A15 was accomplished through as the Tista in Sikkim, the Manus in Bhutan, the Sangu in these meetings. However, it is important to stress the need Bangladesh, and the Mahanadi in India. Particularly in for continued financial and other support if the meeting downstream portions of the major river systems, it is decisions and recommendations are to be implemented. important to determine whether and how far other dolphin Specifically, the Asian River Dolphin Committee still species (e.g. finless porpoise, Irrawaddy dolphin) pene­ needs a focal center and a funding base. The Department trate. The presence of other species within a surveyed area of Zoology at Patna University in Patna, India, has an could confound results. This project should culminate in ongoing program to study and conserve the susu. Its geo­ graphical position, institutional commitment, and history an evaluation of the current status of all extant susu sub- of involvement make it a natural center for many of the populations throughout the range of the species. river dolphin committee's start-up activities. It is expected that "old" Project 31 (Establishment of a Ganges river dol­ Project 13 phin project) will be at least partially realized through the Investigate ways of restoring river dolphin habitat Patna program. in the vicinity of Farakka Barrage, India (including "old" Project 25) Whenever possible, projects should have multi-species Farakka Barrage, constructed in the early 1970s, created a components that provide scope for cooperative effort and barrier to the movements of susus and other aquatic financing in conjunction with other SSC specialist groups. wildlife between the lower reaches of the Ganges system, A model project of this kind, centered in Nepal and north­ including the biologically rich Sundarbans, and the middle ern India, was being developed by Brian D. Smith in late and upper Ganges (Jones 1982). Besides subdividing the 1993 and early 1994. Ganges population of dolphins, the barrage has degraded the riverine habitat, both upstream and downstream of the Susu structure; dolphins in the Feeder Canal between Farakka on the Ganges and Jangipur on the Bhagirathi are said to Project 12 be especially vulnerable to capture in fishing gear (Ahsan Estimate river dolphin populations in the Ganges, etal. 1992). Abetter understanding is needed of the phys­ Brahmaputra, Meghna, and Karnaphuli river sys­ ical and biotic conditions that make habitat suitable for tems (including "old" Projects 22, 26,27, and A4) river dolphins. Thus it would be appropriate for this pro­ Some of the work called for in the previous Action Plan ject to include studies of the characteristics of relatively has been accomplished (Sinha 1992, Mohan 1992a, pristine dolphin habitat, for comparison with more com­ Ahmed 1992, Dey et al. 1992, Mohan et al. 1993, Smith promised habitat. Although it is recognized that all dams 1993, B.D. Smith and R.K. Sinha, pers. comm.; see and barrages constructed in areas inhabited by river dol­ Reeves et al. 1993a), but there is still a critical need for phins can have deleterious consequences for these ani­ more and better information on the status and demogra­ mals (see Projects 47 and 50), the strategic placement of phy of susus in many parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Farakka Barrage at approximately the geographic center of and Bhutan. The Asian River Dolphin Committee should. the susu's total range gives it special significance. The aim

i1 of this project is to document the impact of Farakka need to be considered in a re-assessment of the dam's Barrage on the susu and its habitat, and to seek ways of probable impact. If, as seems likely at present, the dam ameliorating any adverse impact. As a part of this analy­ is constructed, it will be important to have studies of dol­ sis, the implications of the proposed Ganges-Brahmaputra phins conducted at various phases during and after con­ link canal should also be considered. Collaboration with struction. This could become the first opportunity for a other taxon-based SSC specialist groups is encouraged, as longitudinal analysis, with adequate pre- and post-devel­ many of the goals are complementary and this would pro­ opment data, of the effects on dolphins in downstream mote wise use of scarce financial resources. reaches of a dammed river. Mitigation strategies are needed to ensure the survival of dolphins in the river after Project 14 the dam has been constructed. Assess the realized and potential effects of the As a part of this project, the investigators should (1) Flood Action Plan on river dolphins in Bangladesh identify areas in Nepal and northern India that would be Haque (1992) and Hasan (1992) called attention to the suitable as international sanctuaries for dolphins and other likely impact on river dolphins of ongoing large-scale aquatic species, (2) develop management plans for such efforts to control drought and flooding in Bangladesh. areas, (3) examine the potential of aquaculture, stream Commitments by Western governments to proceed with stocking, and habitat restoration strategies for increasing the controversial Flood Action Plan, in spite of the offset­ stocks of prey species, and (4) develop a public education ting environmental and human costs, are periodically rein­ program to promote the value of susus and dispel the myth forced by calamitous events that involve massive human of the medicinal value of dolphin oil. This project is ideal suffering and loss of life. A study that focuses on the for collaboration with other taxon-based SSC specialist implications for susus and other aquatic wildlife is needed groups such as those for otters and crocodiles. by aid agencies, NGOs, and government officials if they are to do a responsible job of environmental impact assess­ Project 16 ment. Without a study specifically highlighting the poten­ Evaluate the need for translocation to rescue tial effects on river dolphins of factors such as depletion (or augment) subpopulations of susus that are of native prey species, erosion of important physiographic isolated by dams or otherwise at high risk from features, altered flow and temperature regimes, popula­ local Ashing activities, pollution, etc. tion fragmentation, human disturbance related to geotech- Although the report of the meeting on river dolphins of nical feasibility studies and construction activities, and the Indian Subcontinent concluded that in situ approaches degradation of water quality, these are unlikely to be given to conservation were preferable to ex situ approaches, it serious consideration in planning and amelioration. was also recognized that there may be instances in which Collaboration on this project with other taxon-based SSC translocation could play a useful role. For example, a few specialist groups would be advantageous. individual dolphins that have been isolated (or are about to become isolated) by a dam or barrage may be judged not Project 15 to comprise a viable subpopulation. The best course may Establish a Nepal/India collaborative study and be to capture these individuals and transport them to an conservation program for small subpopulations area of suitable habitat where they would augment another of susus in Ganges tributaries (including "old" subpopulation. Conversely, it could be decided that some Projects 28 and 29) animals from a well-stocked area should be used to re­ The four major Ganges tributaries that originate in Nepal stock an area from which dolphins have been extirpated (Mahakali, Kamali, Narayani, and Sapta Kosi) have been or in which the remaining subpopulation is too small to obstructed by barrages built in India near the India-Nepal be viable. This project may have important implications border. Small subpopulations of susus have been iso­ for dolphin subpopulations in Nepal and Pakistan that are lated upstream of these barrages, and surveys in early obviously doomed (e.g. the Narayani and Sapta Kosi rivers 1993 suggest that only the Kamali, with 25-30 dolphins, in Nepal—B.D. Smith, pers. comm.; the subpopulation(s) has a viable subpopulation (B.D. Smith, pers. comm.). upstream of Chashma Barrage in Pakistan—Khan and Niazi This subpopulation is further threatened by a planned high 1989). Augmented subpopulations may, in the long term, dam at Chisapani Gorge (Smith 1993). Some of the infra­ provide source populations for re-establishing dolphins in areas where they have been, or soon will be, extirpated. structure for the dam site is already under construction. The susu is one of a number of aquatic and terrestrial The limited record of live-capturing river dolphins species likely to be affected by Chisapani dam and asso­ needs to be carefully reviewed and assessed, and experi­ ciated developments. In addition. Royal Bardia National ence with other cetaceans should be considered as well. Park will be seriously degraded. All available data on Several potential capture and release sites should be iden­ the susu subpopulation in the Karnali/Ghaghara River tified. These sites should then be evaluated through a

52 Population and Habitat Viability Assessment. The candi­ American River Dolphin Workshop). Several other pro­ date sites judged appropriate according to this evaluative jects were of direct relevance to conservation of the boto process might be further evaluated according to other cri­ ("old" projects 43-45). In this new Action Plan we list two teria such as their proximity to necessary support facili­ projects specifically related to this species and note that ties and personnel. It will also be necessary to estimate four other projects are relevant to boto conservation how much the probability of survival of a recipient sub- (Projects 47, 48, 49, and 50). population is likely to increase and to anticipate any nega­ tive effects that could result from artificially mixing Project 18 animals from different areas. Any translocation scheme Assess and monitor the killing of botos in all parts of should include complete documentation, tagging, and cat­ their range where such killing is known or suspected aloguing (with DNA samples as well as standard demo­ to occur (including "old" Project 10) graphic profiles) of translocated animals. Like Project 12, This South American endemic species is killed inciden­ this project should be managed in cooperation with the tally and for fishery protection in at least several parts of its Asian River Dolphin Committee. It may also prove use­ range (Best and da Silva 1989a, Beltran and Trujillo 1992, ful to involve the SSC Reintroductions Specialist Group in Kendall 1993, da Silva and Best in press, Leatherwood and the project's planning and execution. Reeves, unpubl. data from Peru; Fig. 25). The commercial sale of eyes and reproductive organs as love charms (Best Project 17 and da Silva 1989a) apparently continues in Brazil but has Develop a program of live capture, transport, not been reported recently in the upper Amazon, where maintenance, and captive breeding of platanistoid such use was mentioned near Leticia, Colombia, in the dolphins using individuals of P. gangetica that 1950s (Allen and Neill 1957). It remains true, as stated are judged doomed by Perrin (1989:10), that kill statistics are "fragmentary." This project represents another kind of intervention, The two-year pilot project to collect comprehensive data instead of or in addition to that proposed in Project 16. on incidental kills, previously proposed for the Brazilian The relative lack of experience with handling and main­ Amazon, is still needed. However, in the light of what taining platanistoid dolphins in captive or "semi-natural" has been learned since 1989, similar projects should be ini­ environments makes ex situ conservation action difficult to tiated not only in Brazil (centered at Manaus) but also in justify at present (see Reeves et al. 1993a). However, if at least Peru (centered at Iquitos), Colombia (centered at the recent view of many Asian researchers—that the susu the field station near Leticia), and possibly Bolivia (to is rapidly declining in much of its range—were to prove reconfirm the observations by Pilleri and Gihr 1977). All well founded, an argument could be made for a captive- significant fishing ports should be surveyed. Specimens breeding initiative to begin soon, rather than at a later stage and data should be collected for use in collaborative stud­ when the compromise of wild stocks has become even ies of stock identity, reproductive parameters, and feeding more advanced. Some of the rationales and procedures habits (as a basis for evaluating claims of competition with developed for the baiji may be usefully applied to the susu. fisheries). A concentrated effort to study the population There might also be some value in regarding the susu as a biology and ecology of botos and tucuxis (including fish­ surrogate species for the baiji and bhulan. By learning ery interactions) began in March 1993 in an area along more about capture, transport, maintenance, and captive the Colombia-Peru border (Vidal et al. 1993). breeding with susus, it may be possible to avoid some of the inevitable losses in last-ditch efforts to save these more Project 19 critically endangered species through captive breeding. Establish a system for handling photographs Like Projects 12 and 16, this one should be managed and tissues to be used in studies of Amazon in cooperation with the Asian River Dolphin Committee and Orinoco dolphins and be undertaken collaboratively with the SSC Captive Photo-identification and genetic analyses are recognized as Breeding Specialist Group. powerful tools for studying cetaceans (Hammond et al. 1990, Hoelzel 1991), but their application to river dolphins has been limited thus far (Hua et al. 1990, Trujillo 1992a, Boto 1993, Vidal et al. 1993, Leatherwood, unpubl. data). Of In the previous version of the Action Plan, five projects the various species, the boto would appear to be the most were aimed primarily at conservation of this species and amenable to photo-identification because of its long sur­ the sympatric species Sotalia fluviatilis ("old" projects facing time, slow swim speed, extensive scarring and 10-14). Three further projects have been added since 1989 notching, and considerable exposure of the body while sur­ ("old" projects All, River dolphins in Colombia; A14, facing (all relative to other river dolphins). Ecology of river dolphins in Peru; and A15, South This project should follow the model of hump-back and

S3 Franciscana In addition to the two projects explicitly dealing only with the franciscana, below, two regional projects (32 and 40) relate largely to this species.

Project 20 Differentiate stocks of franciscanas Although the state of knowledge on the biology of this heavily-exploited South American endemic species has improved greatly during the past decade (see contribu­ tions in Perrin et al. 1989a, Monzon and Corcuera 1991, Crespo 1994, IWC in press a), there is still uncertainty about stock structure. Pinedo (1991) described two geo­ graphical forms of franciscana, one found to the north and one to the south of Santa Catarina, Brazil. It was agreed at the 1992 meeting in Buenos Aires that stock analysis was a high priority for this species and that various approaches should be used, including molecular biology techniques, osteological comparisons, and differences in growth and reproductive patterns, parasite faunas, and contaminant loads. Also, it was pointed out that surveys of the area in Brazil between the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul would be useful for determining whether the species' distribution is continuous or discon­ tinuous in this area. It is expected that this project will consist of indepen­ dent subprojects by various researchers. Ideally, inves­ tigators using a given approach will have access to a pooled sample of materials, with appropriate credit given to all contributors in any resultant reports or publications. For example, collaborative work on pollutant levels and parasites is already underway at the universities of Figure 25. A young boto, killed in a gillnet, is carried up the bank Barcelona and Valencia in Spain, and it would be bene­ so that it can be photographed and measured. Such incidental ficial if the samples being used for these studies were mortality is widespread and thus a growing concern among con­ augmented by material from areas in addition to servationists. In most areas of the Amazon and Orinoco sys­ tems, botos are not hunted, but their attraction to fishing activities Necochea, Argentina. Once a sufficient amount of work often makes them a nuisance to fishermen and increases their has been completed using several different methods, it vulnerability to accidental entanglement (San Martin, Tipishca may be appropriate to convene a small working group to de Samiria, Peru, 28 July 1993). compare and evaluate results, and to plan any additional work that is considered necessary.

Project 21 right whale studies in which various researchers (as well as Design and implement surveys to estimate population amateur photographers), often from different countries, size of franciscanas ("old" Project 9) have contributed to a common pool of high-quality pho­ There is a continuing need for reliable information on tographs that are curated and archived in a central reposi­ abundance of franciscanas. "Old" Project 9 called for a tory for collaborative use. Joint authorship of publications meeting of key researchers to select a survey method and would encourage wide participation. The objective would site, and for a "pilot survey" to be carried out as soon as be to establish such a repository and begin compilation of possible thereafter. At Buenos Aires in 1992 it was agreed a catalogue of known individuals. A standard protocol that the best site for a preliminary study would be near for tissue collection and preservation should be estab­ Valizas and Cabo Polonio, Uruguay, where the catches per lished. This project is intended to include both South unit effort in the shark fishery have suggested a locally American species (Inia geoffrensis and Sotalia fluviatilis). high density of franciscanas. It was also agreed that a

54 working group would be formed to compare potential and The Netherlands (P.J.H. Van Bree, pers. comm.). methods of sighting or otherwise detecting franciscanas, Researchers in New Zealand have conducted a variety stud­ and to carry out experiments in the above-mentioned area ies on Hector's dolphin, and some of these are ongoing. to identify the method of choice. Surveys using this "best" Thus "old" Project 40 (Assess and reduce incidental kill of method would then be done in additional areas, prefer­ Hector's dolphin in New Zealand) is considered to have ably at least one of them being north of Santa Catarina been fully implemented (see Dawson and Slooten 1993). within the range of the proposed "northern" form of the Many projects in the previous Action Plan mentioned species (cf. Pinedo 1991). the bottlenose dolphin as a principal species exploited in The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a means multi-species fisheries; a few of these (e.g., "Old" Projects of monitoring changes in population size. Because the 3—Peru; 19—Sri Lanka; 20—India) have been at least species is apparently difficult to observe, novel approaches partially implemented. Three relevant projects have been should be tried. It is probably unrealistic, with present added since the last version of the Action Plan was pub­ knowledge and technology, to obtain reliable estimates of lished in 1989. "Old" Project Al, a study of the biology of abundance or density for franciscanas, particularly when hump-backed dolphins in Natal, has been undertaken by the scale of analysis includes an entire stock area. An Cockcroft and associates, with national funding. "Old" indexing method that uses morphometries, life-history Project A5, calling for a report on the status of the parameters, or some other proxy for population condition Irrawaddy dolphin in Chilka Lagoon, India, was addressed as an index may be preferable. in a paper by Dhandapani (1992), and the project has been brought forward as a part of Project 24 in the current doc­ ument. "Old" Project A9, a proposed study of the ecol­ Neritic and Estuarine Species that are ogy of hump-backed dolphins throughout West Africa, is partially addressed within Project 25 but is still in need of Vulnerable by Virtue of their Proximity focused attention. to Human Activities The projects identified here for these five genera are (Finless Porpoise, Irrawaddy Dolphin, Hump-backed only a sample of what is needed. Some of the regional and Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphin, Commerson's Dolphin, topical projects (below) are also at least partly directed at Chilean Dolphin) neritic and estuarine species. It must also be noted that other species in addition to those cited here (e.g. Phocoena As discussed earlier under "Status of Species and spp., Cephalorhynchus spp., Delphinus delphis in some Populations," dolphins and porpoises of these five genera areas such as the eastem Mediterranean, possibly j4i«rra/c»- (Neophocaena, Orcaella, Sousa, Tursiops, and Cephalo- phocaena dioptrica) have nearshore, and in some cases rhynchus) are naturally vulnerable because of their endemic, distributions, making them similarly vulnerable. nearshore distribution. The bottlenose dolphin is in a somewhat different position from the other species con­ sidered here, in that in many areas an offshore population Finless Porpoise also exists (although the degree of genetic interchange between coastal and offshore populations is unknown). Project 22 Populations have been depleted or extirpated in some World review of the status and conservation localities because of habitat degradation, fishery by- problems of finless porpoises catches, or a combination of these factors. Unfortunately, This porpoise has a fairly extensive distribution, but very in much of the range of these species there has been no little is known about stock identity and abundance. In directed effort to determine their status, so it will be diffi­ areas where information is regularly made available, most cult to judge, in many cases, whether the species are "nat­ notably Japan (see Japan Progress Reports to the IWC), urally" rare or absent, as opposed to depleted or extirpated there is a substantial bycatch of finless porpoises in a vari­ due to anthropogenic effects. ety of fisheries. Some animals have been intentionally In the previous Action Plan only three projects explicitly live-captured or salvaged from fishing gear for display in concerned populations of these five groups. "Old" Project Thailand. There have been suggestions that in areas such 16 (Assess populations of bottlenose dolphins in Natal) as the mouth of the Indus River (Pakistan) and the coastal has been undertaken by V.G. Cockcroft and associates at and estuarine waters of the Indochina Peninsula, finless the Port Elizabeth Museum, with local, national, and inter­ porpoise populations are depleted or extirpated. In the national funding. "Old" Project 42 (Resolve taxonomy and Yangtze River, finless porpoises are affected by many of distribution of the hump-backed dolphins, Sousa spp.) has the same processes as baiji (e.g. habitat degradation and been addressed, but not yet fully implemented, by bycatch in fisheries). researchers in South Africa and Australia (Ross et al. 1994) This review should identify the populations of fin-

55 less porpoise that are most at risk and thus help to focus ods should be included in reports on survey results. As future CSG conservation and research activities involv­ possible, tissue samples should be collected from dolphins ing this species. that are found dead or taken as a fishery bycatch, and such samples should be shared by investigators studying the genetics and contaminant levels of this species. Irrawaddy Dolphin In addition to the biological investigations, it is impor­ tant to work with fishermen and local officials to develop Project 23 sustainable and less wasteful fishing methods. Ideally, this Investigate status and establish protected project would develop as a series of regional sub-projects, areas for pesut in Indonesia each having both a scientific and a community-develop­ Little research has been done on Irrawaddy dolphins, ment and education component. Areas identified thus far locally known as pesut, in Indonesia. Populations there are as candidates for sub-projects are the Indochina Peninsula apparently patchily distributed in certain rivers and estu­ and the vicinity of Chilka Lagoon on the Bay of Bengal aries, all of which are used intensively by humans. Unless coast of India. Work on this species in Thai waters is some special protection is given to these dolphins, they are included under Project 44 (below). likely to disappear from Indonesia within a few decades. Preliminary work by Indonesian scientists in the late 1970s and early 1980s identified the lower Mahakam River and Hump-backed Dolphins its tributaries and associated lakes (especially Semayang Lake) in southeastern Kalimantan as one area where pesut Project 25 were relatively common (Tas'an and Leatherwood 1984). Investigate the ecology and conservation status They are also frequently observed in Kumai Bay, central of hump-backed dolphins in West Africa ("old" Kalimantan (Kartasantana and Suwelo 1994). Another Project A9) possible concentration area is the vicinity of Cilacap Town There is a hiatus in the distribution of the genus Sousa (Segara Anakan) on the south coast of central Java (A. between approximately Cameroon and False Bay in south­ Priyono, pers. comm.). ern Africa (Ross e< a/. 1994). The dolphins found along Based on reports by Indonesian scientists, the threats the African west coast have long been recognized as a sep­ to Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mahakam River system are arate species, S. teuszii. Given its limited range and its more likely to involve habitat degradation (e.g. river traf­ nearshore and estuarine distribution in small groups, this fic, sedimentation of lakes, pollution by logging) and com­ species is probably not abundant. Virtually nothing is petition for fishery resources, than direct killing or known about the degree of mixing between groups of bycatches (Priyono 1992). A detailed assessment of the hump-backed dolphins that inhabit adjacent stretches of status of the species and the nature of threats is needed, coast. There may be several, or many, discrete popula­ with a view to designating at least one area as a pesut tions. A review is needed of the status of the species reserve or sanctuary. The attractiveness of such a desig­ throughout its range. A single investigator should be iden­ nation might be enhanced by the promise of supplement­ tified to coordinate a collaborative study and to collate ing local incomes with a modest, carefully planned and national or regional reports. The final summary of find­ regulated tour industry. ings should include an evaluation of the species' status in various countries and a list of management actions needed to ensure its conservation. Project 24 Investigate status and conservation of Irrawaddy dol­ phins in southern Asia (including "old" Project A5) Bottlenose Dolphins Very little is known about the abundance and status of Irrawaddy dolphins in southern Asia, but they were at least Project 26 formerly widely distributed in coastal waters and some Assess the status of bottlenose dolphins large river systems. Recent preliminary surveys in the and identify problem areas Mekong, Sekong, and Sesan rivers (Laos and Cambodia) Because of the bottlenose dolphin's cosmopolitan distrib­ suggest that populations there are declining, possibly ution and aggregate abundance, the species is not in imme­ rapidly, mainly because of fishery conflicts (Stacey and diate danger of extinction (Fig. 26). However, populations Baird 1993, Baird et al. 1994). As recommended by the in many areas have declined, and the species has disap­ IWC Scientific Committee in 1993 (IWC 1994), additional peared from some parts of its historic range. A worldwide surveys are needed to map the distribution of dolphins and review of bottlenose dolphins has never been done, in part to collect quantitative data on dolphin density in the sur­ because the systematics of the genus Tursiops are uncer­ veyed areas. In every case a detailed description of meth­ tain. The frequent occurrence of morphologically and eco-

56 Figure 26. Bottlenose dolphins are cosmopolitan in tropical and temperate latitudes. While the species remains abundant, many local populations are depleted due to direct hunting, bycatches, and habitat degradation (Kilauea Bay, Kauai, Hawaii).

logically distinctive "inshore" and "offshore" forms of status of bottlenose dolphins has not been adequately docu­ Tursiops complicates any analysis. Regardless of the tax­ mented, through time, to provide the basis for quantifying onomy, a review of the conservation status of Tursiops such a decline or forjudging its causes. Among the most populations worldwide is needed. This project can be likely causes are chemical and acoustic pollution, reduced accomplished by reference to the literature and by corre­ or contaminated food resources, direct killing by fishermen, spondence with regional experts. Such a review would and fishery bycatches. In some areas (e.g. Tunisia, northem be most useful if it were to include a quantitative ranking Sardinia, Balearic Islands) small-scale coastal gillnet fish­ of populations according to their degree of vulnerability or ermen reportedly kill bottlenose dolphins in retaliation for endangerment, as well as a list of high-priority actions depredations on fish stocks and gear damage (G. needed for their conservation. Notarbartolo di Sciara, pers. comm.). The following actions are needed: (a) chart the present distribution of these Project 27 dolphins in the Mediterranean and compare it with histori­ Investigate the status and develop a cal data, (b) monitor selected populations where dolphins conservation strategy for bottlenose are still present in substantial numbers, (c) investigate pos­ dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea sible causes of declines, and (4) establish coastal sanctuar­ Available evidence suggests that the occupied range of the ies for bottlenose dolphins in parts of their present range bottlenose dolphin on the Mediterranean continental shelf where viable populations survive. Claims against dolphins has been diminishing progressively for some time (G. by fishermen need to be substantiated, and mechanisms Notarbartolo di Sciara, pers. comm.). Unfortunately, the need to be developed for resolving the conflicts.

57 tion on stock boundaries and seasonal movements, together with more surveys designed to allow inter-sur­ vey comparisons, it remains impossible to assess popula­ tion status. The Commerson's dolphins at the Falklands (Malvinas) and Kerguelen also remain unassessed. A specific focus of this project would be to replicate the 1984 surveys at the appropriate time of year. Also, there is a need to re-investigate the question of how extensively Commerson's dolphins are taken as a bycatch in Chilean and Argentine gillnet (and other?) fisheries (cf. Goodall etal. 1988a, Leatherwood e/a/. 1988b).

Chilean Dolphin Project 29 Determine the status of populations of the Chilean dolphin and recommend appropriate conservation actions The Chilean dolphin is one of the least studied cetaceans. Like its congeners, it has a limited distribution in coastal waters. Although it is known to have been taken as a bycatch in various fisheries and by direct hunting for a considerable time (Goodall et al. 1988b; Fig. 28), the Figure 27. Commerson s dolphins have been taken in large sfjecies has never been the subject of concentrated study. numbers in souttiern South America, both as a bycatch in fish­ Most concern for the conservation of Chilean dolphins eries and by harpooning for crab bait. The status of populations has centered on their use as bait in the crab fisheries of is uncertain (Near Isia Marta, Chile, 5 February 1984). southern South America (Klinowska 1991; see Project 30). This project should include a review of the species' distri­ bution and the identification of at least one area where field Commerson's Dolphin studies of abundance, life history, ecology, and behavior can be undertaken. It should also include an effort to doc­ Project 28 ument the geographic extent and intensity of exploitation. Determine the status of populations of Commerson's dolphin and recommend appropriate conservation actions Regional Projects In the 1970s and early 1980s Commerson's dolphin (Fig. 27) was among the species killed for use as crab bait in Project 30 southern Chile and Argentina (see Project 30); some dol­ Assess illegal use of small cetaceans for crab bait phins of this species were also killed accidentally in nets in southern South America ("old" Project 2) and live-captured for oceanaria in Japan, Europe, and the Nearly 15 years have passed since it became widely United States (Goodall et al. 1988a). Perrin (1988:8) known that marine mammals, including small cetaceans, stated that the abundance of Commerson's dolphins "may were being killed for use as crab bait in southern Chile have been drastically reduced," at least in areas where har­ and Argentina. Some reports suggested that removal rates pooning for crab bait was most intensive. An estimate of had been high relative to population size of Commerson's abundance, based on aerial survey, is available for the dolphin and Peale's dolphin, in particular. The practice northeastern Strait of Magellan in January-February 1984 of using marine mammals as bait is reported to have (Leatherwood et al. 1988a). An aerial survey in May 1987 declined in recent years, but with geographic relocation resulted in a much lower population estimate for this area of the crab fishery, it is feared that Peale's dolphin may (Venegas and Atalah 1988). The difference in results have been more widely affected and that other marine between the two surveys could be due to either a decrease mammals, including the Chilean dolphin, may have been in the dolphin population, a seasonal shift in distribution, increasingly affected. or a lack of comparability in the survey methodology Progress on this project has been much too slow. In (including observer variability). Without better informa­ addition to the useful information provided by Lescrau-

58 waet and Gibbons (1994), more needs to be icnown about obtaining shark bait and food for humans. Literature sum­ such aspects as how the crab fishery has developed, the use marized by Vidal et al. (in press a) indicates that, since at of cetaceans as bait, and the numbers and species of least 1988, cetaceans have been taken "frequently" in gill- cetaceans taken. There is a critical need for up-to-date nets in an area between 9° 55'-ir 25'N and 61° 50'-64° information from the field. 30'W (NE Venezuela), and that the animals taken have The CSG recently received support from the U.S. State been used for bait and for human consumption. These Department to commission a report from Chilean investi­ authors also noted a report that Venezuelan longliners gators, and as part of the Action Plan for the Conservation opjerating out of French Guiana occasionally harpoon dol­ of Marine Mammals in the Southeast Pacific UNEP has phins for bait (see Van Waerebeek 1990). agreed to provide some additional support for field work. There is a clear need for more detailed documentation The CSG has sought to promote communication among of this situation, especially in view of the possibility that investigators and managers involved in the crab-bait prob­ it will prove to be analogous to those in Peru, Sri Lanka, lem. Given the enormous size and great complexity of and the Philippines. The research and monitoring pro­ the western Strait of Magellan and southern Chilean fiord jects conducted in those countries may provide useful system where the crab fishery now operates, the modest models for northeastern South America (see Project 33). It funding committed thus far will not be adequate to docu­ will be important to determine the extent and nature of the ment the full history and current extent of the fishery or the kills (direct and bycatch), the uses of products, and ulti­ status of the affected cetacean populations. mately the effects of the fisheries on cetacean populations. It is important that the research findings be conveyed to Project 31 relevant government agencies and that these agencies be Determine the extent and effects of catches of encouraged to take appropriate action to ensure the con­ small cetaceans off Venezuela and the "Guyanas" servation of regional stocks of cetaceans. (including Guyana, Surinam, and French Guiana) Representatives of two Venezuelan environmental groups Project 32 reported early in 1993 that large numbers of small Conduct a survey of coastal fishery cetaceans were being harpooned along the coast of interactions in Brazil ("old" Project 4) Venezuela (press release, 6 May 1993, from FUNDAC- Small cetaceans are taken as bycatches in gillnets and ETACEA and BIOMA). This practice was said to have seines at many places along the coast of Brazil (Fig. 29). begun in approximately 1970, mainly for the purpose of Species taken include, at a minimum, the tucuxi (Fig. 30),

Figure 28. Chilean dolphins have been little studied but have been exploited In a variety of fisheries.

59 Figure 29. The franciscana is the only platanlstoid dolphin with a marine distribution. Adults have long, narrow beaks, a feature shared with the freshwater platanistoids Lipotes, Platanista, and Inia. These adult franciscanas, together with a neonate (or large fetus?), were taken accidentally in gillnets near Atafona, Brazil. bottlenose dolphin, franciscana, false killer whale, Risso's Documentation and Monitoring of dolphin, Atlantic spotted dolphin, common dolphin, and Bycatches and Direct Catches in rough-toothed dolphin (Lodi and Capistrano 1990, Artisanai Fisheries Simoes-Lopes and Ximenez 1993, M. Borobia, pers. comm.). Minke whales and southern right whales are also Among the largest known artisanai fisheries for small and taken, and there is some evidence of directed killing of medium-sized cetaceans are those in Peru, Sri Lanka, and cetaceans in at least Santa Catarina state (Simoes-Lopes the Philippines. The fisheries seem to have evolved in a and Ximenez 1993). Brazilian scientists have conducted similar pattern in all three countries. Initially cetaceans preliminary surveys, determined which government agen­ were taken incidentally in fishing operations, but as fish cies and private companies would be appropriate to catches declined and uses and markets were found for include in assessment and management programs, and cetacean products, the cetaceans became targets of identified ports that require monitoring. Information is directed hunting and netting. While attempts may have needed on the size and species composition of the been made in some instances to estimate yields offish bycatches and on characteristics of the fisheries which stocks and to manage their exploitation on a sustainable could affect the level and nature of the bycatches. This basis, no serious attempt has been made by government project should involve coordination of the efforts of vari­ agencies in any of these countries to assess the impacts of ous groups working along different stretches of Brazil's the fisheries on cetacean populations. The need for inten­ long coastline. A project led by S. Siciliano and supported sive monitoring of catches and for assessing the status of by UNEP and the CSG was initiated in 1993 to cover a stocks has been recognized for a considerable time. sample of ports in the northern and southern areas. Similar situations probably exist elsewhere (e.g. see

60 Figure 30. Tucuxis in Guanabara Bay at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, live in a relatively disturbed environ­ ment. Traffic regularly

,...'^^•;^ involves large ships and fishing boats, and the water­ 1 "KJ way is infested with fishing gear, which can be deadly J for the dolphins. '?-^-*"*VSl >1 ^i^l " IBI N.. ;•... '.;iM» -..<„^ '^" - 4

' - .

• i..^ll.v«J.;': L,. BiaHetzet

Figure 31. Large bycatches of small cetaceans in Peruvian drift gillnets have led to a directed net fishery, mainly for dusky dolphins (see the animal in the middle of the frame). A pilot project aimed at getting fishermen to convert from gillnetting to longlining has been successful, and it is hoped that this will lead to a large-scale conversion to less destructive fishing techniques (Pucusana, Peru).

Julio Reyes

Project 31; also Samaniego and Felix 1994) but have yet to Project 33 be adequately documented. This set of three projects Continue monitoring bycatches and direct addresses the need for continued monitoring and other catches of cetaceans in Peru ("old" Project 3) actions in Peru, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. Projects A large variety of small and medium-sized cetaceans is for other areas will be added as sufficient documentation taken incidentally in gillnets and deliberately in seines becomes available to support project formulation. and with harpoons (Read et al. 1988, Van Waerebeek and

61 Reyes 1990, in press). The species of most concern are the dusky and common dolphins, which are taken in the great­ est numbers, and Burmeister's porpoise, a species endemic to coastal southern South America. The meat is sold for human food. It should be noted that the direct fishery for cetaceans was officially closed by the Peruvian govern­ ment in November 1990, but this closure has not been ade­ quately enforced (Van Waerebeek 1994, IWC in press a). There is still no national commitment in Peru to provide support for stock assessment, and it appears that the need for international funding and prodding will continue. Thus some of the actions indicated in the previous version of the Action Plan still apply (Perrin 1989:9). Since 1989, Peru's cetacean fisheries have also been considered by the IWC Workshop on Mortality of Cetaceans in Passive Fishing Nets and Traps in 1990 (Perrin et al. in press) and by the IWC Scientific Committee (IWC 1992a:201- 202, in press a). Reliable estimates of total fishing mortality are needed for each species in Peruvian waters. This can be achieved by modifying existing procedures used by the Ministerio de Pesqueria (MIPE) to collect data. It should be required that the number of individuals of each species landed be Fig. 32. Cetaceans of many species are killed along the coasts recorded, instead of only the total weight of cetaceans of Sri Lanka. Although some of the killing is inadvertent, the landed. Better information on stock structure is also market value of cetacean meat has caused deliberate netting needed, as are reliable estimates of abundance for the and harpooning to proliferate. The Sri Lankan fisheries for affected stocks. The work of the Centro Peruano de cetaceans are unregulated, and no assessment has been made of the impact on populations (Spinner dolphins, Hambantota, Sri Estudios Cetologicos (CEPEC) has been instrumental in Lanka, 27 May 1985). documenting the problem, and this work should be sup­ ported and continued (UNEP has provided some support as part of the Action Plan for the Conservation of Marine Mammals in the Southeast Pacific). The recommenda­ any of the exploited cetacean species and thus no way of tion that "alternative fishing methods be sought to reduce assessing the impact of the continuing removals. The marine mammal mortality without affecting fishery report also concludes that, contrary to the understanding of yields" in Peru (IWC 1992a:202) has been initialed as Leatherwood and Reeves (1989; also see IWC 1992a:203), "Old" Project A7, and the preliminary results (Reyes the taking of cetaceans is not illegal in Sri Lanka. 1993) offer hope for replacement of harmful fishing tech­ There remains an urgent need for a well-planned, care­ niques by techniques that do not kill cetaceans (Fig. 31). fully-executed project to document fishing effort (by area and season) and cetacean landings throughout Sri Lanka Project 34 (Fig. 32). The sampling program and subsequent analy­ Continue monitoring of bycatches and direct ses should be designed and conducted in a manner that catches of cetaceans in Sri Lanka ("old" Project 19) meets internationally accepted standards of scientific rigor. As in Peru, the artisanal fishery for small cetaceans in Sri Biological specimens should be collected and studied Lanka has now been a subject of international conservation alongside archived specimens collected in 1983-1986 (cf. concern for more than five years (IWC 1986a). Much of Leatherwood and Reeves 1989), with a view to examin­ what was called for in the previous version of the Action ing species, age, and sex composition of the landed catch. Plan (Perrin 1989:12) has been implemented under the Surveys are needed to estimate cetacean populations that aegis of the United Nations Food and Agriculture are subject to exploitation in Sri Lankan fisheries. Organization's (FAO's) Bay of Bengal Program (Dayaratne and Joseph 1993). However, the report of this Project 35 FAO project gives no cause for abatement of concern Continue monitoring bycatches and direct catches of about the impacts of the Sri Lankan fisheries on coastal cetaceans in the Philippines ("old" Project A8) stocks of small and medium-sized cetaceans. As the report It first became known in 1990 that cetaceans were being acknowledges, there is no information on stock size for taken in artisanal fisheries in the Philippines, both inten-

62 tionally and as bycatches in nets (Dolar et al 1994, Dolar species in some areas were high enough to cause serious in press; Fig. 33). Interviews with local people since then concern (Mohan in press). The need for a system of mon­ have indicated that most such catching is done in the cen­ itoring the catch and assessing its impact remains, partic­ tral Visayas. Monitoring by fisheries observers has con­ ularly in view of the fact that some of the same stocks may firmed that several hundred cetaceans are taken annually in be heavily exploited in both Sri Lanka and eastern and each of the villages sampled. A law passed in 1992 pro­ southern India. India and some other northeastern Indian hibits the taking of dolphins. This law seems to have less­ Ocean states face enormous problems of poverty and ened the frequency of direct hunting, but it has also caused human overpopulation. Programs to develop and expand fishermen to be more secretive about their activities and fisheries for human benefit will continue, and as they do thus made cetacean catches more difficult to monitor. the problems of conserving cetacean populations (and There is a need for placing observers in a broad sam­ other marine resources) will certainly get worse. ple of villages throughout the Philippines, during the A strong foreign presence is required to establish a rig­ period January-August, to document fishing effort and orous monitoring program, perhaps along the lines of those cetacean landings. Findings from such a study, combined in Peru, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. Financial and with an ongoing inventory of cetaceans in Philippine technical support from outside India is much needed. The waters (cf. Leatherwood et al. 1992), can guide managers possibility of collaboration with the Sirenia Specialist in selecting sites for marine sanctuaries and making other Group should be explored, since dugong stocks in India appropriate regulatory decisions. have also been seriously affected by both direct and inci­ dental takes (Silas and Bastian Fernando 1988). Project 36 Monitor and assess bycatches and direct catches Project 37 (if any) of cetaceans in Indian coastal waters Estimate catches and status of populations of ("old" Project 20) small and medium-sized cetaceans in Taiwan As noted in the previous Action Plan (Perrin 1989:12) ("old" Project 18) large numbers of cetaceans are killed in Indian fisheries, The Wildlife Protection Act of 1989 was amended in but there is little quantitative information. In a preliminary August 1990, making the direct capture of cetaceans ille­ assessment it was found that the rates of mortality for some gal in Taiwan (Chou in IWC 1994). It remains uncertain

Figure 33. Tlie exploitation of small cetaceans in the Philippines appears to have followed a pattern similar to that in Sri Lanka and Peru. Availability of meat as a result of frequent bycatches in fish­ eries has created a market and stimulated more directed hunting for cetaceans with harpoons and nets. Here dolphin meat is shown on sale at San Francisco public market (26 May 1992).

Colin Wood

63 as to whether the drive fishery, mainly for bottlenose dol­ liminary effort should be made to determine stock bound­ phins, will continue on Penghu Island. A drive in late aries and census the target populations. Such work would February 1993, involving about 20 dolphins, resulted in initially have to be planned and conducted by foreign the release of all the captured animals (Chou, in litt., experts, but the project should include a training compo­ October 1993). Permits for live-capture, using a combi­ nent for encouraging development of local (or at least nation of hoop nets and drives, are currently under con­ regional) interest and expertise. This project should sideration, and fishermen continue to insist that dolphins include, as possible and appropriate, use of the unpub­ eat fish that would otherwise be available for the fisheries. lished data in the files of researchers who have worked Thus there is still a need for monitoring cetacean bycatches with these fisheries in the past (e.g. D.K. and M.C. of Taiwanese vessels, as well as for making an inventory Caldwell, R.V. Walker, W.S. Price). Mortality in gillnets of cetaceans inhabiting Taiwanese waters. As recom­ and other fishing gear (Vidal et al. in press a) should be mended by the IWC Scientific Committee (IWC 1994), considered in any attempt at stock assessment. studies of these kinds should be undertaken after consult­ ing experts on questionnaire surveys and sightings sur­ Project 39 veys. A full description of methods should be provided Investigate bycatches and direct killing of when the results of such studies are presented. cetaceans in West Africa ("old" Project 17) A series of interviews conducted at fishing ports from According to Perrin (1989:11) Mauritania, Senegal, and 1992 to 1994 was part of a new program to document the Ivory Coast have documented histories of cetacean marine mammals occurring in Taiwanese coastal waters. exploitation (see Cadenat 1959). The little available infor­ The first in a series of vessel surveys, designed in part to mation indicates that both large-scale foreign and small- train local scientists in survey techniques and field identi­ scale domestic fisheries operating in these countries, as fication, was conducted in March 1994. A field guide to well as in Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Gabon, and Taiwanese cetaceans has been published (Chou 1994) and Sierra Leone, involve significant bycatches of small is being distributed widely to scientists, fishermen, and cetaceans. The tropical tuna fishery off West Africa government officials. results in the killing of at least 3,300-5,000 dolphins per year (T.A. Jefferson, pers. comm.). There may also be a Project 38 directed dolphin fishery in at least Senegal. Mortality of Investigate artisanal catches of cetaceans in the Lesser cetaceans in fisheries off West Africa is largely unmoni- Antilles and estimate sizes of affected populations tored, and the impacts on cetacean populations are Artisanal hunts for cetaceans, mainly small to medium- unknown. Coastal species such as Phocoena phocoena sized odontocetes, have operated in the Lesser Antilles and Sousa teuszii are of particular concern. A review of (centered at St. Vincent and St. Lucia) for decades the coastal fisheries, both artisanal and industrial, in all of (Caldwell and Caldwell 1975, Price 1985, Reeves 1988). West Africa is still badly needed. No official records of catches have been kept, and docu­ Since 1988, two projects intended as contributions to mentation has been sporadic. No attempt at stock assess­ the implementation of "old" Project 17 have been com­ ment has been made. Klinowska (1991) summarized pleted. First, UNEP sponsored a training workshop in available information on these fisheries and called for 1992 in Ghana, attended by representatives of fisheries and research and monitoring programs, particularly aimed at conservation agencies in West African nations. Following the short-finned pilot whale which has been the principal this workshop, proposals were received by UNEP from target species. She noted that in Japan, where short-finned many of the participants seeking to initiate cetacean pilot whales are also hunted, there is evidence of isolated research programs in their respective countries. Second, local populations (Kasuya et al. 1988; also see Kasuya and a field guide to marine mammals of West Africa was pre­ Tai 1993), of low productivity (Kasuya and Marsh 1984, pared by T.A. Jefferson and B.E. Curry. This guide needs Kasuya and Tai 1993), and of "apparently more damag­ to be translated before it is published and distributed to ing effects of selective fisheries for large animals" focal centers in West African countries where programs (Klinowska 1991:260). to investigate sightings, strandings, and catches are being Landings of cetaceans should be monitored at sites developed. The guide includes a summary of published known or thought to have been used most intensively in records for each species, sighting and stranding data forms, recent years (e.g. Barrouallie on St. Vincent and Vieux and a dichotomous key for species identification. Recently Fort on St. Lucia). Fishermen who catch whales and dol­ D. Robineau and M. Vely initiated a project to investigate phins, as well as anyone otherwise involved in the small- the biology of small cetaceans in Mauritania and Senegal. cetacean fisheries, should be interviewed for information The need remains for an outside expert or experts to on such matters as historic and recent developments in the visit the West African nations, set up data-collection pro­ enterprise, catch statistics, and product markets. A pre­ grams, and train local fisheries biologists. The ultimate

64 objective is to provide reports to appropriate government ing to develop a national research plan; for subsistence, agencies in nations where significant fishery interactions fuel and other supplies, and equipment for field work; and or direct exploitation of cetaceans is found to occur. Such for collation and publication of data, technical reports, reports should have recommendations for management and reports to government agencies recommending man­ actions and establishment of long-term research and mon­ agement actions. itoring programs. Project 41 Project 40 Survey the status of marine cetaceans Improve statistics on cetacean mortality in Chinese waters ("old" Project 38) in Argentine fisheries ("old" Project 6) There continues to be a lack of sufficient information on It was recognized in the previous Action Plan that the marine cetacean fauna of China (Fig. 35). Extensive unknown numbers of cetaceans, from at least six species, coastal fisheries are known to operate in some parts of were being killed incidentally in fisheries along the coast China, and interactions between fishery operations and of Argentina. The suggestion was made that the coastline cetaceans undoubtedly occur. Particularly in view of be divided into four zones and that regional subprograms China's rapid drive toward industrial development and be established at universities and other institutions to economic expansion, the survey called for in the previous investigate this mortality. Some work has been accom­ Action Plan is even more badly needed now than it was in plished since 1989 by E.A. Crespo and co-workers at the the late 1980s. Very little progress has been made in estab­ Centro Nacional Patagonico and University of Patagonia. lishing a network of interested people to collect data on They interviewed captains, officers, fishermen, and others strandings and catches. A Chinese-language field guide involved in the fishing industry, and some cetacean speci­ suitable for use by such a network still needs to be pre­ mens were collected (Fig. 34). Small cetaceans, particu­ pared and published. This project clearly should be led larly dusky dolphins, but also common dolphins, by one or several Chinese scientists, with technical advice Commerson's dolphins, spectacled porpoises, and and financial assistance from outside the country. Burmeister's porpoises, are taken in bottom and midwater trawls (E.A. Crespo, pers. comm.; see Crespo et al. in Project 42 press). This work needs to be continued and expanded, Assess the stocks of striped and common dolphins in and similar effort needs to be initiated from Buenos Aires the Mediterranean Sea (including "old" Project 15) northward and in southern Patagonia including Tierra del A major change in the relative abundance of these two Fuego. Funds are still needed for an organizational meet­ species is thought to have occurred in the western

Figure 34. Dusky dolphins are among the species taken incidentally in Argentine fisheries (Puerto Madryn, Patagonia, Argentina).

65 Figure 35. Extensive coastal development, such as that for Hong Kong's enormous new airport on "reclaimed" seabed (A), seriously de­ grades the environment and threatens neartjy populations of Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphins (B).

Figure 35A.

Figure 35B.

Mediterranean Sea during the past 20 years. As recently as direct killing in Spain, and large bycatches in at least the early 1970s the common dolphin apparently was abun­ Spain, Morocco, and Italy. Striped dolphins may have dant in the northern basin, but it is now almost entirely increased in abundance in areas where common dolphins absent there (Notarbartolo di Sciara 1993). The causes of declined, although they, too, have been subjected to large this apparent decline are uncertain but may include over- bycatches and direct killing in some areas. The role of exploitation of food resources, pollution, unregulated competitive exclusion in the decline of common dolphins

66 (Viale 1985) is speculative. A large-scale epizootic in nomic justification is for any deliberate further removals. 1990-1992 resulted in the deaths of thousands of striped The recent review by Buckland et al. (1992b) provides a dolphins in the Mediterranean, and the severity of this die- framework for development of a comprehensive research off may have been linked to the exceptionally high burdens and conservation program in this region. of organochlorines in Mediterranean striped dolphins (Pastor and Simmonds 1992, IWC 1992a, Aguilar and Project 44 Raga 1993, Kannan etal. 1993). Investigate the status of coastal small cetaceans The status of these two delphinid species is a continuing in Thailand (including "old" Project 21) source of concern. More aerial or vessel surveys are Specific concern arose during the mid-1980s with the dis­ needed to determine present distributions and estimate covery of a dwarf form of spinner dolphin (Stenella lon- densities (e.g. Forcada et al. 1994), particularly in the east­ girostris) in the Gulf of Thailand (Perrin et al. 1989b). ern and southern portions of the basin where common dol­ Project 21 in the previous Action Plan called for a locally- phins may still be abundant. Also, likely sources of based monitoring program to examine dolphin carcasses mortality, particularly fishery bycatches, need to be iden­ landed in Bangkok and investigate how and where they tified and quantified. Research and monitoring programs were being secured (Perrin 1989:12). Since then, it has should be established for the two species in the Mediter­ been reported that four coastal species (bottlenose dolphin, ranean Basin. These should have components related to Irrawaddy dolphin, Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphin. pollutant levels and effects, incidental and direct catches, and necropsies of stranded animals.

Project 43 Investigate current status of dolphins and porpoises in the Black Sea There has long been concern about the status of cetacean stocks in the Black Sea (Mitchell 1975, Berkes 1977, Smith 1982, Buckland era/. 1992b). Harbor porpoises (Fig. 36), common dolphins, and bottlenose dolphins have been hunted intensively by the citizens of several countries bordering the Black Sea, and the populations of all three species have been severely depleted as a result. Although Turkey, the Black Sea country most recently known to have had a directed hunt, banned such hunting in 1983, illegal catches were documented in 1991 (IWC 1992a:200, Buckland et al. 1992b). Responses by Turkey to repieated recommendations of the IWC Scientific Committee have been inadequate. A die-off of harbor porpoises, involving mainly young animals and apparently centered along the Crimean, Taman, and Bulgarian coasts, was reported in 1990(Birkune/a/. 1992). Authoritative, up-to-date information from each of the Black Sea countries needs to be collated and reviewed. Significant gaps in information need to be identified and filled. Stock assessment surveys should be planned, with expert advice from cetacean biologists and statisticians. Such surveys should be stratified according to what is known about areas of past abundance for the three sf)ecies. Programs should be initiated to monitor incidental catches of cetaceans in Black Sea fisheries. In any area where Figure 36. Large numbers of harbor porpoises have been killed direct killing of cetaceans occurs, the catch must be docu­ in the Black Sea, and the population in this semi-enclosed body mented fully (broken down at least to species and prefer­ of water may be seriously depleted. More than 60 porpoises are ably also to age-class and sex), and some kind of shown in this photograph from the Turkish Black Sea, 10 March correction factor must be developed to account for hunting 1991. A directed hunt for harbor porpoises and other small loss. Documentation of kill rates and methods of killing cetaceans was conducted in Turkey at least as recently as the early 1980s. The porpoises pictured here were apparently taken is essential. It is also important to determine what the eco­ in fishing nets.

.if and finless porpoise) have been eliminated from large parts Topical Projects Affecting Several of their previous range in inshore waters of Thailand, Different Species, Populations, or Areas apparently due to habitat degradation and fishery bycatches (M. Andersen and C.C. Kinze in IWC 1994), Project 47 possibly exacerbated in the case of Irrawaddy dolphins and Conduct a symposium on impacts of dams on finless porpoises by a live-capture fishery. There is a river dolphins: problems and solutions (partly pressing need for documentation of the status of small "old" Project 43) cetaceans and their habitat in Thai waters. An initiative It is generally acknowledged that dams and other types of involving local scientists, with external funding and tech­ obstruction in rivers have negative effects on dolphins. nical support, should begin as soon as possible. Historically, however, most development projects have proceeded with little understanding of, or concern about, Project 45 their implications for these animals. This project is Investigate bycatches and directed intended to have both a research component and a public- hunting of cetaceans in Oman education component. The idea is to convene a meeting of Coastal waters of Oman are inhabited by a large variety experts in relevant fields, including dolphin behaviorists, of cetaceans, and a baseline of information on occurrence ecologists, hydrological engineers, officials from irrigation and mortality in fishing gear is available from work begun and power authorities in range states, and representatives in the mid 1980s (Salm 1992, Salm etal. 1993). The area of international funding institutions. The agenda for such south of Ra's al Hadd along the central coast of Oman has a meeting should be to document the nature of problems intensive trawl and driftnet fisheries which kill marine tur­ caused by dams and to develop strategies for eliminating tles, seabirds, non-target fish species, and a variety of or ameliorating these problems. Priorities should be set cetaceans. Of particular concern is the relatively large according to the scale and immediacy, as well as the prog­ number of Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphins found dead nosis for solving, the identified problems. The ultimate along this coast. goals should be to raise the level of awareness about river A field identification guide is already being produced dolphins among fwliticians, planners, and engineers and (R. Salm, pers. comm., February 1993), and this should to improve the state of knowledge about the problems and increase awareness and knowledge about local cetaceans potential solutions. Concepts such as "staircasing" of in Oman. No stock assessment has yet been carried out dams in upstream reaches of rivers (Perrin and Brownell in these waters, nor is there any formal program for 1989) and construction of "swimways" to allow dolphins reporting cetacean mortality in fishing gear or in directed to pa.ss upstream and downstream of barrages hunts. Both types of initiative are needed. The nature of (Hammonds 1992) should be addressed in detail. The the background data and of the problems to be addressed report of the symposium should include recommendations in Oman is such that collaboration with other taxon-based that are both technical and strategic; in other words, they Specialist Groups (e.g. Marine Turtles, Seabirds, Coral should refer to design, hydrology, and costing as well as Reefs) would be desirable. to the politics of implementation.

Project 46 Assess cetacean stoclu in eastern Russia Project 48 With the disintegration of the old Union of Soviet Socialist Test the validity of folk beliefs about the properties Republics in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the status and of cetacean products ("old" Project 23) and find problems of cetacean populations in northeast Atlantic, substitutes, as appropriate northeast Pacific, and Eurasian Arctic waters and in the The demand for some cetacean products is built on folk Black Sea have taken on a new character. Whereas in the beliefs, at least some of which probably have no biochem­ previous Action Plan there was an implicit assumption that ical basis. To the extent that such demand encourages cetaceans in Soviet waters were subject to a coherent mon­ exploitation, efforts to demystify the attributes ascribed to itoring and conservation regime, there is now great uncer­ dolphin oil, eyes, and reproductive organs could play a sig­ tainty about the condition of and prognosis for these stocks. nificant role in conservation. In the previous version of the In view of reports that there has been substantial mor­ Action Plan a specific project of this kind was described tality of cetaceans in coastal drift gillnets set for salmon (Perrin 1989:13), and some progress toward implementa­ along the coasts of Kamchatka Peninsula, an assessment of tion has been made (Mohan 1992b; Fig. 37). the situation is needed. Such an assessment should include There is a need for a review of the uses of cetacean all forms of human-related mortality of all cetacean products, with the goal of identifying areas in which strate­ species. Russian/Japanese joint venture operations require gies can be developed for reducing threats to populations. particular attention. Of particular importance are situations where the regime of

68 Figure 37. The meat and oil of susus are used as fish attractant in the middle Ganges of India. Lures made witti mixtures of cow dung, goat fat, and dolphin oil bring large catfish close enough to be caught by men with scoop nets.

R. 8. Lai Mohan

exploitation is actually driven by the demand for the prod­ new methods with South American river dolphins. Since ucts. Thus it will be important to distinguish between 1990, Trujillo (1992b) has intensively surveyed a lake sys­ those cases in which the valued substance is actually a "by­ tem in the Colombian Amazon. Vidal et al. (1993) com­ product" of exploitation and those in which it provides a pleted an initial set of surveys in June 1993 along primary motivation for taking the animals. Eastern South approximately 125 km of the Amazon River bordering America and the Indian sub-continent are the two regions Colombia and Peru, and another team of workers has an most in need of immediate attention. ongoing survey program (since 1991) centered in the Samiria River system of Peru (Leatherwood 1993). A Project 49 workshop meeting is needed to compare and evaluate the Workshop on methods for surveying populations methods presently used in both South America and Asia, of coastal and riverine cetaceans ("old" Project 45) and to develop better approaches. One goal of such a Line-transect and strip-census methods have been adapted meeting would be the production of a manual for field use, and refined for use in surveying cetaceans in the open possibly with separate sections for each species or type of ocean (Buckland et al. 1993a), and these methods have habitat. Another goal would be to identify and educate a generally provided the best available estimates for man­ pool of experts who are comjaetent and willing to advise agement. However, neither approach is entirely suitable or field investigators and review their results. practical for cetaceans found near shore along complex or convoluted coastlines, or in river and lake systems. Other Project 50 methods that have been used for river dolphins have not Promote increased consideration of river faunas been fully satisfactory either (Perrin and Brownell 1989, in internationally funded developments ("old" Reeves et al. 1993a). It is important that survey methods be Project 43) improved and standardized so that the results of work by As stated in the previous version of the Action Plan, the different investigators in different parts of a species' range protection of river dolphins and the associated river fauna can be usefully compared or combined (see, for example. should be integral to planning for national and regional Project 12). Such improvement and standardization is crit­ river development (Perrin 1989:16). Consideration of dol­ ical if there is to be any hope of detecting trends in popula­ phins should be part of a broad attempt to accommodate tions, particularly those with a large geographic range. the needs of wildlife, fisheries, and economic develop­ Several initiatives are underway to develop and test ment. Some initial effort has been made toward the implementation of this project (see Reeves et al. 1993a, Organochlorines have been found to be associated with Reeves and Leatherwood 1994). Project 47 is viewed as physiological alterations that lead to reproductive failure an outgrowth of the work accomplished to date. The and with the occurrence of bone lesions in some pinnipeds explicit need remains, however, for an authoritative set of (e.g. see Anonymous 1992b). Also, considering the ability guidelines to be recommended to national agencies, inter­ of certain xenobiotic compounds to depress the immune governmental bodies, and international funding institu­ systems of mammals, it has been postulated that pollu­ tions presently engaged in or planning developments in tants were triggering factors in recent epizootics affecting major tropical river basins. seals and dolphins in highly polluted waters (Brouwer et This project should include the establishment of a al. 1989, Aguilar and Raga 1993, Kannan et al. 1993). position, preferably based in Washington, D.C., and pos­ However, the actual mechanisms involved in such sibly endowed by and housed within an existing NGO processes, the threshold levels at which the effects should or IGO, to coordinate necessary activities related to river be expected in a wild population, and the range of these dolphins and development projects. The person in the effects have not been established. fXJsition would be expected to (1) maintain a close liaison Several recent initiatives have drawn together some of with officers in the World Bank and other aid agencies, the results of studies on the effects of pollutants on NGOs, IGOs, and range-state governments, (2) develop cetaceans and the possible links between pollution and die- and disseminate the guidelines described above, (3) orga­ offs. There is, nevertheless, an immediate need for a sym­ nize meetings and campaigns, as appropriate, to ensure posium and workshop to stimulate and guide further work that the conservation of river dolphins is considered by in these areas. The main goals of such a meeting should be planners and decision-makers, and (4) maintain an up-to- to: (a) make a comprehensive review of currently available date registry of development projects potentially affect­ information, (b) standardize experimental and analytical ing river dolphins. procedures, and (c) identify research priorities and develop proposals for action. The IWC-sponsored workshops on Project 51 age determination (Rep. int. Whal. Commn, Spec. Iss. 3, Conduct a symposium and workshop on the 1980) and reproduction (Rep. int. Whal. Commn, Spec. effects of chemical pollutants on marine mammals Iss. 6, 1984) should provide models for meeting organiz­ Evidence that chemical pollutants have negative effects on ers. Cooperation (and possibly joint sponsorship) with wild marine mammals has increased in recent years. the SSC Seal Specialist Group should be considered.

70 References

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Population biology and incidental mortality Whitehead, H. 1990. Day of the ziphiids. 5omir 4:10-11. of the vaquita, Phocoena sinus. Rep. Int. What. World Commission on Environment and Development. Commn. (Spec. Iss.). 1987. Our common future. Oxford Univ. Press, Vidal, O., Brownell, R.L., Jr. and L.K. Findley. In press b. Oxford and New York. Vaquita Phocoena sinus Norris and McFarland, 1958. Yablokov, A.V. 1994. Validity of whaling data. Nature In S.H. Ridgway and R. Harrison (eds.). Handbook of 367:108. marine mammals, Vol. 6. Academic Press, London. Yochem, P.K. and Leatherwood, S. 1985. Blue whale Vidal, O., Hurtado, L.A., Ojeda, Z.V. and P. Cendon, P. Balaenoptera musculus {L.\nna&\i&, 1758). Pp. 193- 1993. The dolphins of the upper Amazon River: a 240 in S.H. Ridgway and R. Harrison (eds.). Handbook progress report. Abstracts, 10th Biennial Conf. Biol. of marine mammals, Vol. 4. Academic Press, London. Mar. Mammals, Galveston, Texas. Yurick, D.B. and Gaskin, D.E. 1987. Morphometric and Vidal, O., van Waerebeek, K. and Findley, L.K. In press a. meristic comparisons of skulls of harbour porpoise Cetaceans and gillnet fisheries in Mexico, Central Phocoena phocoena (L.) from the North Atlantic and America and the wider Caribbean: a preliminary North Pacific. Ophelia 27:53-75. review. Rep. Int. Whal. Commn. (Spec. Iss.). Zachariassen, P. 1993. Pilot whale catches in the Faroe Vladykov, V.-D. 1944. Chasse, biologie et valeur Islands, 1709-1992. Rep. Int. Whal. Commn. (Spec. Iss. economique du marsouin blanc ou beluga 14):69-88. {Delphinapterus leucas) du fleuve et du golfe Saint- Zeh, J., Clark, C.W., George, J.C, Withrow, D., Carroll, Laurent. Dep. Pecheries, Prov. Quebec, 6tudes sur les G.M. and W.R. Koski, W.R. 1993. Current popula­ mammiferes aquatiques. III. tion size and dynamics. Pp. 409-489 in J.J. Burns, J.J. Volgenau, L., Kraus, S.D. and Lien, J. 1993, The impact Montague and C.J. Cowles (eds.). The bowhead whale. of fishing gear entanglement on two substocks of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, Spec. Publ. 2. western North Atlantic humpback whale, Megaptera Zhou, K., Li, Y., Qian, W. and Yang G. 1980. Notes on novaeangliae. Abstr., 10th Bienn. Conf. Biol. Mar. three species of dolphins from the south China Sea and Mamm., Galveston, Texas, p. 109. Jiulongjiang River. Oceanol. Limnol. Sin. 11:306-313. Wada, S., Kobayashi, T. and Numachi, K. 1991. Genetic Zhou, K. and Zhang, X. \99\. Baiji. The Yangtze River variability and differentiation of mitochondrial DNA dolphin and other endangered animals of Chirm. Stone in minke whales. Rep. Int. Whal. Commn. (Spec. Iss. Wall Press, Washington, D.C.; Yilin Translation Press, 13):203-215. Nanjing, China. Wada, S. and Numachi, K. 1991. Allozyme analyses of 0ien, N. 1988. The distribution of killer whales (Orcinus genetic differentiation among the populations and orca) in the North Atlantic based on Norwegian species of the Balaenoptera. Rep. Int. Whal. Commn. catches, 1938-1981, and incidental sightings, 1967- (Spec. Iss. 13): 125-154. 1987. RiLFisk. 11:65-78.

85 Appendix 1

Cetacean Specialist Group Members

AJex Aguilar Anne Collet Mads Peter Heide-J0rgensen Spain France Denmark

Robin Baird Justin Cooke John E. Heyning Canada United Kingdom United States of America

John Bannister Javier Corcuera Thomas A. Jefferson Australia Argentina United States of America

Jay Barlow Enrique Crespo Toshio Kasuya United States of America Argentina Japjan

Peter B. Best Stephen M. Dawson Hidehiro Kato South Africa New Zealand Japan

Monica Borobia Vera M.F. da Silva Steven K. Katona Brazil Brazil United States of America (Kenya) M. Louella L. Dolar Carl Chr. Kinze Robert L. Brownell, Jr. Philippines Denmark United States of America Nicholas J. Gales Margaret Klinowska Claudio Campagna New Zealand United Kingdom Argentina Ray Gambell Stephen Leatherwood George C.T. Chen United Kingdom Chairman Taiwan United States of America (Republic of China) David Gaskin (Hong Kong) Canada A. AJeem Chaudhry Nobuyuki Miyazaki Pakistan R. Natalie P. Goodall Japan Argentina Lien-siang Chou R.S. Lai Mohan Taiwan Jonathan Gordon India (Republic of China) United Kingdom Simon P. Northridge Christopher Clark Philip S. Hammond United Kingdom United States of America United Kingdom Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara Victor Cockcroft A.K.M. Aminul Haque Italy South Africa Bangladesh

86 William F. Perrin Graham J.B. Ross Barbara Taylor United States of America Australia United States of America

Ricardo Praderi Rodney V. Salm Omar Vidal Uruguay Kenya Mexico

Andrew Read Johann Sigurjonsson Wang Ding Canada Iceland People's Republic of China

Randall R. Reeves R. K. Sinha Randall Wells Deputy Chairman India United States of America Canada Elisabeth Slooten Hal Whitehead Julio C. Reyes New 2Lealand Canada Chile Chris Smeenk Koen Van Waerebeek Sam H. Ridgway The Netherlands Peru United States of America Brian Smith Bernd Wiirsig Daniel Robineau United States of America United States of America France Gregory Stone Alexey V. Yablokov Fernando Rosas United States of America Russia Brazil Zhou Kaiya People's Republic of China

87 Appendix 2

Resolutions Adopted by lUCN at its 19th General Assembly, 1994

The lUCN General Assembly adopted three Resolutions 2. URGES States and fishing interests to promote the related to cetaceans at the 19th Session of its Triennial development and use of selective fishing gear and prac­ General Assembly in Buenos Aires, Argentina, January tices that minimize the by-catch of non-target species 1994. These are reproduced below. lUCN Resolutions including marine and fresh-water mammals. are intended to represent a consensus of the membership, as represented at the General Assembly. Although some Note: This Recommendation was adopted by consensus. Cetacean Specialist Group members played a role in draft­ The delegation of the State member Norway indicated that ing, reviewing, and shaping these resolutions, the final ver­ had there Ijeen a vote, the delegation would have abstained. sions do not necessarily represent a consensus view of the CSG, whose membership has been deliberately structured to provide diverse perspectives on conservation issues. 19.63 19.62 Commercial Whaling Marine and Fresh-water Mammal Bycatch in Fisheries RECALLING the commitment of lUCN—The World Conservation Union, to the conservation and sustainable RECALLING Recommendations 18.35,18.36 and 18.38 use of natural resources, as stated in Recommendation of the 18th Session of the General Assembly; 18.34 of the 18th Session of the General Assembly;

RECALLING also that the Agreement on the RECALLING the concerns expressed by previous ses­ Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North sions of the General Assembly regarding the lack of Sea calls upon the States Parties to adopt all reasonable respect by some governments for international regulatory measures to minimize by-catches of small cetaceans; measures intended to ensure the proper conservation of whale stocks, including-—in the International Whaling NOTING with concern that in some areas small cetaceans Commission (IWC)—by the use of objections and special and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) are caught in large permits and—in CITES—by reservations to listing of numh)ers by fishing vessels; whale species in Appendix I;

CONCERNED by the continuing mortality of marine and RECOGNIZING lUCN's long-standing support for a fresh-water mammals in many fisheries globally, including worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling, as Hooker's sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri) in the New expressed in the World Conservation Strategy (1980) and Zealand Auckland Island squid fishery, the New Zealand General Assembly Recommendations in particular 17.46 fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) in the New Zealand hoki (1988) and 18.34 (1990); fishery and fresh-water dolphins in the riverine systems of China, India and South America; EMPHASIZING that nothing in Agenda 21 restricts the right of a State, or competent international organization, The General Assembly of lUCN—The World Conserva­ to prohibit, limit or regulate the use of marine mammals tion Union, at its 19th Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, more strictly than is required for sustainable use, within 17-26 January 1994: areas under its jurisdiction or control;

1. URGES States to adopt controls, including technical AWARE that since the 18th Session of the General management measures and codes of practice which will Assembly the Scientific Committee of the IWC has rec­ significantly curtail the by-catch of marine and fresh­ ommended a proposed Revised Management Procedure as water mammals; the main scientific element of the Revised Management

88 Scheme, which is also to include a system of observation, 1. REAFFIRMS its view that the IWC remains the appro­ inspection and other safeguards; priate global authority for the management of whales, and notes that Agenda 21 (Paragraphs 17.61(a), FURTHER AWARE that the IWC at its 45th Annual 17.89(a) and 17.75) recognizes the IWC as the respon­ Meeting in Kyoto, Japan, in May 1993, did not adopt the sible organization for the conservation and manage­ Procedure or any other elements of the Revised ment of whale stocks and the regulation of whaling Management Scheme, and in consequence has not yet pursuant to the 1946 International Convention for the adopted a scientifically rigorous procedure for regulating Regulation of Whaling, and calls on all States, includ­ commercial whaling; ing both members and non-members of the IWC, to abide by its regulations; FURTHER AWARE that the elements of the Revised Management Scheme, including a fully effective inspec­ 2. CALLS UPON all States and the IWC to maintain the tion and observation scheme for commercial whaling, current moratorium on the commercial killing of have not l)een agreed and that other elements, such as con­ whales at least until the Revised Management Scheme, tinued protection of depleted stocks already protected including the Revised Management Procedure has been under the IWC's previous management rules, as agreed in adopted and incorporated into the IWC Schedule; the Resolution on the Revised Management Procedure of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the IWC (1991), should addi­ 3. URGES lUCN and all IWC member States to partici­ tionally be considered; pate actively in the IWC's planned workshop in 1994- 1995 on research regarding the effects of environmental CONSIDERING also that, until the Revised Management change on cetaceans; Procedure and the other essential elements of the Revised Management Scheme have been adopted and incorporated 4. CALLS UPON the relevant IWC member governments into the IWC Schedule, the existing moratorium on the to remove their objections to IWC decisions; commercial killing of whales should be maintained and observed by all States; 5. URGES relevant IWC member governments to refrain from any further commercial whaling activities under COMMENDING the IWC for its decision taken at its 44th objections to IWC decisions; Annual Meeting to renew the Indian Ocean whale sanctu­ ary for an unlimited period; 6. FURTHER CALLS UPON the relevant IWC member governments to terminate those aspects of their present BEING COGNIZANT that there are ethical doubts about programmes of research that involve the killing of the commercial killing of cetaceans, which are shared by whales; many members of lUCN, and that current methods for killing cetaceans cannot be considered humane; 7. EXPRESSES its appreciation to the Government of Brazil for the withdrawal of its reservations to the ALSO CONCERNED by the potential risks to cetaceans CITES Appendix 1 listing of whale species and urges resulting from oceanic environmental degradation, for other relevant CITES member governments to with­ example the effects of chronic pollution, and global cli­ draw their reservations to the listing of these species; mate change; 8. REQUESTS the Director General to convey this OBSERVING that these risks have not yet been ade­ Recommendation and associated explanatory docu­ quately addressed by the IWC, but that at its 45th Annual ments to the Secretary General of the United Nations, to Meeting, the IWC agreed to convene a special workshop the Executive Director of the United Nations prior to its 47th Annual Meeting in 1995, regarding Environment Programme and to the Secretary of the research on the effects of environmental changes on IWC and all member govemments of the IWC. cetaceans, in order to provide the best scientific advice for the Commission to determine appropriate response Note: This Recommendation was adopted by consensus strategies; after each paragraph in the draft text was adopted by a show of hands. Proposals for three other preambular para­ The General Assembly of lUCN—The World Conserva­ graphs and an alternative paragraph to Operative tion Union, at its 19th Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Paragraph 2 were rejected by shows of hands. The dele­ 17-26 January 1994: gation of the State member Norway stated that though they

89 accepted some parts of the Recommendation, they the adoption in 1991 by the Consultative Parties to the strongly opposed it as a whole. They considered that it Antarctic Treaty of the Protocol on Environmental contained incorrect information and was not scientifically Protection, which commits them "to the comprehen­ based. The delegation of the State member Denmark indi­ sive protection of the Antarctic environment and cated that had there been a vote, the delegation would have dependent and associated ecosystems", designates abstained, although they could support some parts of the "Antarctica as a natural reserve, devoted to peace and Recommendation. A written statement on this issue was science", and, inter alia, prohibits all activities relat­ supplied by the European Bureau for Conservation and ing to mineral resources other than scientific research Development. The State member United Kingdom pro­ for at least 50 years; vided a written statement on the U.K.'s policy on com­ mercial whaling, which is published in the Proceedings the designation by the International Maritime of the General Assembly. Organization (IMO) of most of the Southern Ocean as a Special Area with respect to marine pollution by and from ships;

19.64 • the establishment by the Commission of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) of a precautionary quota NOTING that a majority (13) of the Member States voting for krill fishing in accordance with that Commission's at the International Whaling Commission (IWC)'s 45th responsibility to maintain "- the ecological relationships Annual Meeting in Kyoto, Japan, in May 1993, supported between harvested, dependent and related populations the proposal by the Government of France that the of Antarctic marine living resources and the restora­ Southern Ocean south of 40 degrees South latitude be des­ tion of depleted populations -" to high stable levels ignated as a sanctuary, in which commercial whaling (CCAMLR, Article II); would not be permitted for an initial period of 50 years, under a specific provision of the 1946 International • the consensus by the UN Conference on Environment Convention for the Regulation of Whaling; and Development, June 1992, in AGENDA 21, Chapter 17, affirming the competence of the IWC, as the "- AWARE that the 5th World Wilderness Congress in appropriate international organization for the conser­ Tromso, Norway, in October 1993, adopted a resolution vation, management and study-" of whales, "-to urging all Member States of the IWC to support the con­ prohibit, limit or regulate the exploitation of whales cept of a circumpolar whale sanctuary in the Southern more strictly than-" is provided for in the case of non- Ocean and also urging lUCN to reaffirm its support for the mammalian resources both in the High Seas and, as whale sanctuary; appropriate, in water under the jurisdiction of States;

AWARE also that the General Assembly of the Global CONCERNED that any legitimization by the IWC of Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment resumed commercial whaling for minke whales in any part (GLOBE International), meeting in Tokyo, 30 August -1 of the Southern Ocean, even if the catches taken were in September 1993, adopted an Action Agenda on Whaling strict accordance with the relatively cautious Revised which "-supports the proposal by the Government of Management Procedure (RMP) which has been recom­ France to establish a circumpolar whale sanctuary in the mended by the IWC's Scientific Committee, would, by Southern Ocean in order to guarantee the protection of at re-invigorating a virtually unlimited world market for least one biological population of each of the great whale products, especially meat from baleen whales, encourage species which are globally distributed-"; resumption of "outlaw" whaling under flags of conve­ nience and whaling by non-Members of the IWC which TAKING NOTE that in a letter to the United States are not bound by the IWC's decisions, rules or resolutions; Congress dated 4 October 1993, President Clinton stated unconditionally that, "The United States-firmly supports FURTHER CONCERNED that, on the basis of past expe­ the proposed sanctuary in the Antarctic"; rience, any such outlaw whaling would lead to the killing of whale species other than minke whales, which are now CONSIDERING that the concept of a Southern Ocean all protected under IWC rules, thus reducing their capac­ whale sanctuary is fully consistent with other internation­ ity to recover to productive levels; ally agreed actions directed to the conservation of the Antarctic continent and the surrounding ocean, including:

90 The General Assembly of lUCN—The World Conserva­ b. to convey this Recommendation and associated tion Union, at its 19th Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, explanatory documents to the Secretary-General of 17-26 January 1994: the United Nations, to the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 1. CALLS UPON all Member States of the IWC to sup­ and to the Secretaries of IWC and CCAMLR. port the proposal for a circumpolar whale sanctuary in the Southern Ocean; Note: This Recommendation was adopted by consensus. A proposal to delete the preambular paragraph beginning 2. URGES the governments of all States active in the "Concerned that any legitimization" was rejected by a Antarctic region that are not Members of the IWC to show of hands. A proposal to delete an additional opera­ express their support to the IWC in its moves towards tive paragraph was approved by a show of hands. The del­ better long-term conservation of whales in the egation of the State member Norway indicated that they Southern Hemisphere; opposed the Recommendation. The delegation of the State member Denmark indicated that had there been a vote, 3. REQUESTS the Director General: the delegation would not have been able to support the Recommendation. a. to work with other organizations represented at the Planning and Coordinating Committee (PCC) for the UNEP Global Plan of Action for the Conserv­ ation, Management and Utilization of Marine Mammals in the formulation of an appropriate long- term programme for nonlethal scientific research within the sanctuary and of guidelines for non-lethal uses of whales such as ecotourism and whale-watch­ ing within the sanctuary.

91 lUCN/SSC Action Plans for the Conservation of Biological Diversity In Print

Dolphins, Porpoises, and Whales. An Action Plan for the Conservation of Biological Diversity: 1988-1992. Second Edition. Compiled by W.F. Perrin and the lUCN/SSC Cetacean Specialist Group, 1989, 27 pp., £5.00, U.S. $10.00. The Kouprey. An Action Plan for its Conservation. Compiled by J.R. MacKinnon, S.N. Stuart, and the lUCN/SSC Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group, 1988, 19 pp., £3.50, U.S. $7.00. Weasels, Civets, Mongooses and their Relatives. An Action Plan for the Conservation of Mustelids and Viverrids. Compiled by A. Schreiber, R. Wirth, M. Riffel, H. van Rompaey, and the lUCN/SSC N/lustelid and Viverrid Specialist Group, 1989, 99 pp., £7.50, U.S. $15.00. Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles. An Action Plan for their Conservation. Compiled by the lUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, 1989, 47 pp., £10.00, U.S. $15.00. African Elephants and Rhinos. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Compiled by D.H.M. Cumming, R.F. du Toit, S.N. Stuart, and the lUCN/SSC African Elephant and Rhino Specialist Group, 1990, 73 pp., £7.50, U.S. $15.00. Foxes, Wolves, Jackals, and Dogs. An Action Plan for the Conservation of Canids. Compiled by J.R. Ginsberg, D.W. Macdonald, and the lUCN/SSC Canid and Wolf Specialist Groups, 1990, 116 pp., £13.50, U.S. $20.00. The Asian Elephant. An Action Plan for its Conservation. Compiled by C. Santiapillal, P. Jackson, and the lUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group, 1990, 79 pp., £12.00, U.S. $18.00. Antelopes. Global Survey and Regional Action Plans. Part 3. West and Central Africa. Compiled by R. East and the lUCN/SSC Antelope Specialist Group, 1989, 171 pp., £13.50, U.S. $20.00. Otters. An Action Plan for their Conservation. Compiled by P. Foster-Turley, S. Macdonald, C. Mason, and the lUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group, 1990. 126 pp., £13.50, U.S. $20.00. Rabbits, Hares and Pikas. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Compiled by J.A. Chapman, J.E.C. Flux, and the lUCN/SSC Lagomorph Specialist Group, 1990, 168 pp., £13.50, U.S. $20.00. African Insectivora and Elephant-Shrews. An Action Plan for their Conservation. Compiled by ME. Nicoll, G.B. Rathbun, and the lUCN/SSC Insectivore, Tree-Shrew and Elephant-Shrew Specialist Group, 1990, 53 pp., £12.00, U.S. $18.00. Swallowtail Butterflies. An Action Plan for their Conservation. Complied by T.R. New, N.M. Collins, and the lUCN/SSC Lepidoptera Specialist Group, 1991, 36 pp., £10.75, U.S. $16.00. Crocodiles. An Action Plan for their Conservation. Compiled by J. Thorbjarnarson, H. Messel, J.P. Ross, and the lUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group, 1992, 136 pp.. £13.50. U.S. $20.00. South American Camelids. An Action Plan for their Conservation (In English and Spanish). Compiled by H. Torres and the South American Camelid Specialist Group. 1992. 58 pp., £10.75, U.S. $16.00. Australasian Marsupials and Monotremes. An Action Plan for their Conservation. Compiled by Michael Kennedy and the lUCN/SSC Australasian Marsupial and Monotreme Specialist Group. 1992. 103 pp.. £13.50. U.S. $20.00. Lemurs of Madagascar An Action Plan for their Conservation: 1993-1999. Compiled by R.A. Mittermeier. W.R. Konstant. ME. Nicoll, O. Langrand, and the lUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, 1992, 58 pp., £8.00, U.S. $16.00. Zebras, Asses, and Horses. An Action Plan for the Conservation of Wild Equids. Compiled by P. Duncan and the lUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group, 1992, 36 pp., £6.75, U.S. $10.00. Old World Fruit Bats. An Action Plan for their Conservation. Compiled by Simon P. Mickleburgh, Anthony M. Hutson. Paul A. Racey. and the lUCN/SSC Chlroptera Specialist Group, 1992, 252 pp.. £12.50. U.S. $25.00. Seals, Fur Seals, Sea Lions, and Walrus. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Peter Reijnders. Sophie Brasseur. Jaap van der Toorn. Peter van der Wolf, Ian Boyd, John Hanwood, David Lavigne, Lloyd Lowry, and the lUCN/SSC Seal Specialist Group. 1993. 88 pp.. £13.50. U.S. $20.00.

Pigs, Peccaries, and Hippos. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Edited by William L.R. Oliver and the lUCN/SSC Pigs and Peccaries Specialist Group and the lUCN/SSC Hippo Specialist Group. 1993. 202 pp.. £13.50, U.S. $20.00.

The Red Panda, Olingos, Coatis, Raccoons, and their Relatives. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for Procyonids andAilurids (In English and Spanish). Compiled by Angela R. Glatston and the lUCN/SSC Mustelid. Viverrid, and Procyonid Specialist Group, 1994, 103 pp., £13.50, U.S. $20.00.

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