Technical Reports of the Ins�tute of Cetacean Research (2022)

pp. 61–65

International meetingsPar�cipa�on of scien�sts from the Ins�tute of Cetacean Research inInterna�onal Mee�ngs in 2022
Annual mee�ng of the Interna�onal Whaling
Commission Scien�ﬁc Commi�ee (IWC SC)
The Interna�onal Whaling Commission (IWC) is an interna�onal body set up by the terms of the Interna�onal
Conven�on for the Regula�on of Whaling (ICRW), which
was signed in Washington, D.C., United States, on 2 December 1946, to ʻprovide for the proper conserva�on ofwhale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industryʼ. One of the important
subsidiary bodies of the IWC is its Scien�ﬁc Commi�ee(SC), which meets annually.
The 2022 mee�ng of the IWC SC was carried out
through a series of virtual sessions from 25 April to 13
May (SC68D). A total of twelve scien�sts from the In-Observers from Japan par�cipa�ng in the online 2022 IWC
Scien�ﬁc Commi�ee mee�ng at the ICR mee�ng room.

s�tute of Cetacean Research (ICR) par�cipated in themee�ngs (Fujise, Kato, Pastene, Tamura, Matsuoka,Hakamada, Taguchi, Konishi, Goto, Isoda, Takahashi andKatsumata). They presented a total of 10 documents:
six documents at the Standing Working Group on Abundance Es�mates, Stock Status and Interna�onal Cruises(ASI), one document at the Working Group on StockDeﬁni�on and DNA tes�ng (SDDNA), one document at
the Sub-Commi�ee on Conserva�on Management Plans(CMP) and two general documents (O: PICES Observer
Report and Japanʼs Scien�ﬁc Progress Reports).
The report of the IWC SC mee�ng can be found on
the website of the IWC (h�ps://iwc.int/events-and-workshops/sc68d-2022).

IWCʼs Workshop of the Technical Adviser Group(TAG) and 2023 cruise planning mee�ng for theIWC-POWER program
IWC-POWER (Paciﬁc Ocean Whale and Ecosystem Research) is a large interna�onal research program aimed
to study the abundance and abundance trend of large
whales in the North Paciﬁc through annual dedicatedsigh�ng surveys. The program is designated and implemented by the Scien�ﬁc Commi�ee of the IWC througha Steering Group, which in turn count with a TechnicalAdviser Group (TAG). The TAG usually meets once a year.
The IWC-POWER program has carried out surveys withthe par�cipa�on of scien�sts from Japan, USA, RussianFedera�on, Republic of Korea and Mexico.
The TAG and the 2023 cruise planning mee�ngs wereScien�sts par�cipa�ng in the 2022 IWCʼs TAG and 2023 cruise planning mee�ng for the IWC-POWER program.
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Technical Reports of the Ins�tute of Cetacean Research (2022)

2022 online mee�ng of the CCAMLR-EMM Working Group.

held from 6 to 10 September 2022 at the Fisheries Agencyʼs Crew house, Tokyo. The TAG mee�ng was co-chairedby Matsuoka of the ICR, who also chaired the planningmee�ng. In addi�on, Pastene, Taguchi and Isoda from theICR par�cipated in the mee�ngs. A total of 10 primary
documents were presented.
The report of the mee�ngs can be found on the website of the IWC (h�ps://iwc.int/events-and-workshops).

68th Mee�ng of the Interna�onal Whaling Commission
thThe plenary sessions of the 68 mee�ng of the IWC
was carried out between 17 and 21 October 2022 at theGrand Hotel Bernardin and Conference Centre, Portoroz,Slovenia. Among the main items in the mee�ng agenda
were: the Scien�ﬁc Commi�ee presenta�on of four consecu�ve mee�ngs; discussion on ﬁnance and administra-

68th mee�ng of the Interna�onal Whaling Commission.
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�ve issues; proposals to amend the Schedule; discussion
on proposed resolu�ons; and aboriginal subsistence
whaling. Fujise and Ohmagari from the ICR par�cipatedin the mee�ng. The next mee�ng of the IWC will be heldin Lima, Peru in 2024.

Annual mee�ng of the Conven�on on the Conserva�on of Antarc�c Marine Living Resources–
Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring andManagement (CCAMLR-EMM)
The Conven�on on the Conserva�on of Antarc�c MarineLiving Resources (CCAMLR) is part of the Antarc�c Treaty
System. The Conven�on was opened for signature on
1 August 1980 and entered into force on 7 April 1982,
thereby establishing the Commission for the Conserva�on of Antarc�c Marine Living Resources. Its goal is topreserve marine life and environmental integrity in andnear Antarc�ca. It was established in large part in response to concerns that an increase in krill catches in theSouthern Ocean could have a serious impact on popula�ons of other marine life, which are dependent uponkrill for food. The CCAMLR has a Scien�ﬁc Commi�eeand several Working Groups. One of these is the Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management(EMM), which meets annually.
The online mee�ng of the EMM Working Group washeld from 4 to 11 July 2022. The main items on the meeting agenda were: krill management including risk analyses, spa�al management and climate change. Under therisk analyses approach, several papers on distribu�on,abundance and prey consump�on of whales in westernParticipation of scientists from the Institute of Cetacean Research in International Meetings in 2022

Antarc�c were presented. Three scien�sts from the ICR
par�cipated in the mee�ng (Tamura, Isoda and Katsumata).
The report of the mee�ng can be found on the websiteof the CCAMLR (h�ps://mee�ngs.ccamlr.org/en/wgemm-2022).

Annual mee�ng of the North Atlan�c Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) Scien�ﬁcCommi�ee (SC)The North Atlan�c Marine Mammal Commission(NAMMCO) is an interna�onal body for coopera�on on
the conserva�on, management and study of marine
mammals in the North Atlan�c. The NAMMCO Agreement was signed in Nuuk, Greenland on 9 April 1992 byNorway, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, andentered into force on 8 July 1992. The agreement focuseson modern approaches to the study of the marine ecosystem as a whole, and to be�er understanding the roleof marine mammals in the ecosystem. NAMMCO has aScien�ﬁc Commi�ee (SC), which meets annually.
The 2022 NAMMCO SC (SC28) mee�ng was held onlinefrom 24 to 28 January 2022. Five scien�sts from the ICR
par�cipated in the mee�ng (Pastene, Tamura, Konishi,Hakamada and Takahashi) as observers from Japan. They
presented the following documents: ʻ2020–2021 Japanprogress report on large cetacean researchʼ, ʻ2019–2020
Japan progress report on small cetacean researchʼ, ʻOutline of the process to calculate a catch limit for North
Paciﬁc common minke whaleʼ, and ʻ2020–2021 report onsatellite tagging experiments at the Ins�tute of CetaceanResearchʼ.
The report of the mee�ng can be found on the website of NAMMCO (h�ps://nammco.no/wp-content/up
loads/2022/06/ﬁnal_report-sc28-2022.pdf).

Mee�ngs of the Steering Commi�ee of theNAMMCO-Japan MINTAG project
The essence of the Miniature-Tag project (MINTAG project) is the development of smaller and lighter satellite
transmi�er tagging systems than the ones exis�ng on themarket today. The objec�ve is to develop a tag (MINTAG)
adapted to the study of the lesser-known fast swimming baleen whales such as ﬁn, common minke, sei andBrydeʼs whales, as well as pilot whales. The project is acoopera�on between the four NAMMCO member countries (see above) and Japan. MINTAG is led by a SteeringGroup, which meets regularly. Pastene and Konishi fromthe ICR are members of the Steering Group. An outlineof the MINTAG project can be found at the NAMMCO
homepage.

Fourth online mee�ng of the Steering Group of theNAMMCO-Japan MINTAG project.

In 2022 several mee�ngs of the Steering Group havebeen carried out. The fourth mee�ng of the SteeringGroup was held online on 9 September 2022. The mainobjec�ves of the mee�ng were to review of summer testshoo�ng, tag design and mee�ng with Wildlife Computers, project website, plan and schedule for 2023, data
depository and budget.

29th Annual Mee�ng of the NAMMCO Council
The 29th NAMMCO Council mee�ng was held at the Grand
Hotel, Oslo, from 13 to 15 September 2022. Pastene fromthe ICR par�cipated in the mee�ng as member of the observer delega�on from Japan composed by the Fisheries
Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Aﬀairs (MOFA) members. The Council mee�ng was carried out concurrently
with the mee�ng of the Management Commi�ee.

Scien�sts par�cipa�ng in the 28th online mee�ng of theNAMMCO Scien�ﬁc Commi�ee.
63Technical Reports of the Ins�tute of Cetacean Research (2022)

par�cipated in the mee�ng (Tamura) introducing the observer report of the 2022 IWC-SC mee�ng. The report ofthe PICES mee�ng can be found on the website of PICES(h�ps://mee�ngs.pices.int/).

Workshop of the project Basin-scale Events toCoastal Impacts (BECI)

Observers from Japan to the 29th Annual Mee�ng of theNAMMCO Council.

Annual mee�ng of the North Paciﬁc Marine Science Organiza�on (PICES)The North Paciﬁc Marine Science Organiza�on (PICES) isan intergovernmental science organiza�on established in1992. It aims to promote and coordinate marine scien�ﬁcresearch in the North Paciﬁc Ocean and its adjacent seas,
and to provide a mechanism for informa�on and dataexchange among scien�sts in its member countries. Itspresent members are Canada, Japan, People's Republic ofChina, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federa�on, and theUnited States of America.

Hotel Paradise Busan, the venue of the PICES-2022 mee�ng.

The 2022 mee�ng of the PICES was held at the HotelParadise Busan, Busan, Korea. The business mee�ngof the Marine Bird and Mammals (S-MBM) group washeld on 24 September 2022. One scien�st from the ICR
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The Basin-scale Events to Coastal Impacts (BECI) is anapproved UN Decade of Ocean Science (UNDOS) project
supported by the North Paciﬁc Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and the North Paciﬁc Marine Science
Organiza�on (PICES). The objec�ve of BECI is, over thecourse of the UN Decade (2021–2030), to develop andimplement an interna�onal ocean intelligence systemof monitoring, research and analy�cal approaches thatwill provide �mely knowledge and advice to decision
makers regarding the impact of current and future ocean
condi�ons from the high seas to coastal socio-ecologicalsystems. In order to develop a high-level science plan for
BECI, a series of workshops are carried out to assemble
experts to advise on the state of climate and ocean models, knowledge of the current and projected condi�ons ofclimate and ocean in the North Paciﬁc and their likely effects on biological produc�on including ﬁshery resourcesand emerging tools and technology that can be used toeﬀec�vely monitor and study the connec�on between
ﬁsh and the ecosystem.
The Workshop 3 of the BECI (ʻTechnology and tools
for monitoring and synthesisʼ) was held online from 13to 14 June 2022. Katsumata from the ICR par�cipated inthis workshop by presen�ng the study en�tled ʻProgressin the development of a long-range ﬂying VTOL-UAVʻASUKA”. Presenta�ons made at the Workshop 3 can befound at h�ps://beci.info/workshop_3/.

Presenta�on by an ICR scien�st at the Workshop 3 of the BECI.

24th Biennial Conference of the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM)
The Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) was foundedParticipation of scientists from the Institute of Cetacean Research in International Meetings in 2022

in 1981 and is the largest interna�onal associa�on ofmarine mammal scien�sts in the world. The mission ofthe SMM is to promote the global advancement of marine mammal science and contribute to its relevance andimpact in educa�on, conserva�on and management. TheSMM held conferences every two years.
The 24th biennial conference of the SMM was held at
Palm Beach, Florida, USA from 1 to 5 August 2022. This
was the ﬁrst fully hybrid, live-virtual conference of theSMM. Kim, Bando, Fujise and Kato from the ICR were coauthors of a poster presenta�on en�tled ʻPrenatal development stages of the Antarc�c minke whaleʼ, presentedto the conference.

2022 Conference of the Spanish Cetacean Society(SEC)of 1999 during the XIII Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society held in Valencia. The SEC was createdwith the global goals of promo�ng and coordina�ng theco-opera�on between people and ins�tu�ons dedicatedto research and conserva�on of marine mammals in
Spain and to reinforce the link between researchers andthe relevant authori�es in order to integrate research
eﬀorts in the framework of the regional, na�onal and interna�onal biodiversity conserva�on strategies. The SEC
held annual conferences.
The 2022 annual conference of the SEC was held inIbiza, Spain from 27 to 30 October. Pastene, Konishi andNakai from the ICR were co-authors of an oral presenta�on en�tled ʻLa distribu�on especial del epibionte
Xenobalanus globicipitis como indicador de diferencias
morfocinema�cas entre cetaceosʼ.

The Spanish Cetacean Society (SEC) was founded in April65