Report NAMMCO 26Th Council Meeting, March 2018, Tromsø
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26TH MEETING OF COUNCIL REPORT 7 – 8 March 2018 © North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission NAMMCO Council Report 2018 Please cite this report as: NAMMCO-North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (2018) Report of the 26th Annual meeting of the NAMMCO Council. Available at www.nammco.no, https://nammco.no/topics/council-reports/ 2 NAMMCO Council Report 2018 REPORT OF THE 26th MEETING OF THE COUNCIL 7-8 March 2018, Tromsø, Norway 1. OPENING PROCEDURES 1.1. Welcome address The Chair of Council, Amalie Jessen (Greenland), welcomed all the participants (Appendix 1) to the 26th meeting of the Council of NAMMCO, and to the premises of the Secretariat. Jessen noted that NAMMCO had undergone a transition from a teen to an adult management organisation during its 26 years of existence. As Chair, she invited NAMMCO to look to the future and be more visionary in dealing with sound conservation and management of marine mammal resources. Being involved already in the predecessor to NAMMCO, the North Atlantic Committee (NAC) and having witnessed the signing of the 1992 agreement, she had the opportunity of observing NAMMCO evolving into a responsible regional management organisation. There will, however, always be room for improvements to make NAMMCO’s work more effective for the benefit of the marine resources and the people utilising marine mammals. She looked forward to the discussions the coming days and hoped for a constructive and visionary meeting. 1.2. Admission of observers On behalf of the Council, the Chair welcomed the attendance of observers (Appendix 1), noting representatives from Canada, Denmark, Japan, the Russian Federation, the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO), the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisations, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the IWMC World Conservation Trust and Livelihoods International (LIVIN). The Chair welcomed specifically the representatives of Makivik Corporation, which was granted observer status in January 2018 and was therefore observing at NAMMCO meetings for the first time. Regrets had been received from OSPAR. The Chair also welcomed the three experts of the NAMMCO Performance Review Panel who were observing the meeting, Caterina Fortuna, Dan Goodman and Russell Smith (see agenda item 2.1.2). 1.3. Opening statements Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Norway delivered opening statements, as well as Canada, Denmark, Japan, the Russian Federation, Makivik Corporation, the IWC and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. The IWMC & LIVIN delivered a joint opening statement. These statements are contained in Appendix 4. 1.4. Adoption of agenda & list of documents The agenda (NAMMCO/26/02) was adopted without amendments (Appendix 2). The list of documents can be found in Appendix 3. 1.5. Meeting arrangements The Secretariat of NAMMCO was hosting the Council meeting this year and the General Secretary, Geneviève Desportes, joined the Chair in welcoming all participants to the premises of the Secretariat. She presented the meeting arrangements and practicalities. She drew attention to the screening of a 2016 Canadian / Nunavut documentary film, Angry Inuk, written and directed by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. The multi award-winning film defends the Inuit seal hunt as a vital means for Inuit peoples to sustain themselves. NAMMCO has screened the documentary on several occasions in association with presentations focussing on the ecosystem impact of Arctic whaling and sealing. 1.6. Presentation from Invited Speaker Makivik Corporation has represented the Inuit of Nunavik, Quebec, since 1978. Makivik asked and was granted observer status to NAMMCO in January 2017. Adamie Delisle-Alaku, the Vice-president of Makivik Corporation and Head of Resource Development was invited to give the following presentation “Marine mammal and Nunavik Inuit”. He noted that Makivik had wanted to become observer to NAMMCO for a long time and maybe also to become a member. His presentation underlined the importance of marine mammal resources in the Nunavik culture and the importance of food sharing, as well as the incertitude generated by climate and environment changes. Delisle-Alaku underlined the importance for Makivik of including traditional knowledge holders in the management decision process. The Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife 3 NAMMCO Council Report 2018 Board (NMRWB) is the main instrument of wildlife management in the Nunavik Marine Region. It considers both western science and traditional Inuit knowledge, or Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ), when making wildlife management decisions. Nunavik Inuit have the right to hunt any species of wildlife in the Nunavik Marine Region to fulfil their economic, social and cultural needs, unless NMRWB establishes a limit. Nunavik Inuit harvesting takes priority over other forms of harvesting. Comments: The presentation was very well received. Greenland noted that there were many similarities between the realities of Nunavik Inuit as depicted by Delisle-Alaku and those described by Jens Danielsen from Greenland Hunter’s and Fishermen’s Organization (KNAPK) during the meeting of the Management Committee for Seals and Walruses. There were also similarities of issues with the Marine mammals as Food Resources project. Different avenues for cooperation between Makivik and Greenland were mentioned. Delisle-Alaku was thanked for his interesting and lively presentation. 1.7. Other business There was no other business. 2. FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION 2.1 Report of the Finance and Administration Committee The Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee (FAC), Jóannes V. Hansen (Faroe Islands), presented the activities of the Committee since NAMMCO 25 (NAMMCO/26/04). The main subjects of relevance to Council included: • Continuing to enhance NAMMCO’s visibility • Clarification on the internship programme and evaluating the possibilities for secondment arrangements at the Secretariat • Following the activities of the Scientific Committee, the Committee for Hunting Methods and the Committee on Inspection and Observation • Establishing the new working group on By-Catch, Entanglements and Live Strandings (BYCELS) • Relation with non-member parties and other bodies • Recruitment of a new Scientific Secretary • Finance related items; the accounting for 2017, and the preparation of the 2018 budget and the draft budgets 2019 and 2020 • SWOTS process for all committees FAC provided the following advice to Council: • Approve the 2017 accounts, endorse the 2018 budget and approve the 2019 draft budget. • Reconfirm the continued prioritisation to update the NAMMCO website, and its use as a hub of all NAMMCO information, communication and outreach activities, both internally and externally • Endorse the recommendations forwarded to Council by the Committee on Hunting Methods, the Committee on Inspection and Observation and the BYCELS Working Group Comments: The Chair thanked Hansen for his presentation and invited comments to the report as well as thanking Hansen for his able chairing of the Committee in the past year. Council endorsed the FAC recommendations. 2.1.1. Audited accounts 2017 Hansen presented the accounts 2017 (NAMMCO/26/05, Appendix 5). They were in line with what was expected both in terms of income and expenditure. The accounts closed with a minus of NOK 121 423, which was covered by funds from the General Reserve. FAC also had reviewed the auditors’ report, which included only minor comments. 4 NAMMCO Council Report 2018 Comments: The 2017 accounts were approved by Council. 2.1.2. Performance Review Jessen recalled the decision of Council 25 to undertake a Performance Review of the organisation and the adopted process for conducting such a review. The objectives of the Performance review were: • To assess the performance and accordance of the organization with the NAMMCO Agreement and other relevant international instruments addressing the conservation and management of marine mammals • To assess the performance of the Parties in responding to NAMMCO recommendations and proposals • To propose ways ahead for areas where improvements are required The review criteria for the Performance Review were developed from the “Kobe Criteria for Reviewing the Performance of RFMOs” (FAO 20151) and amended to reflect NAMMCO’s mandate and membership. The Performance Review Panel should be composed of external experts, non-nationals and non-residents of any NAMMCO member countries to ensure objectivity and neutrality. Council had agreed to ask FAO, IWC and NAFO to nominate one expert to the panel. Dan Goodman (Japan), Caterina Fortuna (Chair of the IWC Scientific Committee, Italy) and Russell Smith (USA) were nominated to the Performance Review Panel by FAO, IWC and NAFO respectively. Due to a delay in the nomination process, the Panel started its work in January 2018. The Panel nominated Fortuna as its Chair. Fortuna provided a short summary of the work undertaken by the Panel which includes regular meetings via skype both internally and with the Secretariat. The Panel developed a Modus Operandi based on the Terms of Reference and the Review criteria adopted by NAMMCO Council and inspired by the Multilateral Organization Performance Network’s methodology MOPAN 3.02. It developed a multi-choice questionnaire, based on the review criteria, and several follow-up questions for different categories of stakeholders. The questionnaire was sent out mid-February to about 80 people (including present and past chairs of Council