Whales (East Greenland-Iceland fin whales, Northeast Atlantic minke whales, Northwest Pacific minke whales, Southern Hemisphere blue, fin, sei, humpback, minke, right and sperm whales)
The Group made a major contribution towards a seven-year international collaborative exercise to develop a feedback-control 'Revised Management Procedure' for commercial whaling, following the imposition in 1982 of a moratorium on such whaling on the grounds of an inadequate scientific basis for sound management. This is probably the most thoroughly researched approach of its type in the world, and has had spin-offs to the development of similar procedures for South African fisheries. The Group continues to play a role in implementing this approach for specific resources, including North Atlantic fin and minke whales and Northwest Pacific minke whales, as well as for a similar approach used for various whale stocks in the Northern Hemisphere subject to aboriginal whaling. Other major contributions include the assessment of the several breeding stocks of Southern Hemisphere humpback whales and of the South African right whale (including involvement in an initiative to apply a common model to all Southern Hemisphere right whale populations), and the development of Antarctic ecosystem models that incorporate the biological interactions of the major whale, seal and krill populations.
Contributing Scientists: A. Brandão, C. de Moor, S. Johnston, A. Ross-Gillespie, N Moosa
Tuna (Eastern North Atlantic bluefin tuna, Western North Atlantic bluefin tuna, Southern bluefin tuna)
Bluefin tuna are probably the world's most economically valuable species, with prices sometimes reaching US$200 per kg on the Japanese sashimi market. Stocks in the North Atlantic and the Southern Hemisphere have been heavily depleted in the past, and there is considerable international controversy at present as to whether or not catch levels have been curtailed sufficiently to allow these resources to recover. Group members have acted as consultants in the associated debates, and contributed to the assessment analyses which are being pursued for these stocks, as well as to the development of Management Procedures for all three.
Contributing Scientists: R. Rademeyer
Other areas
Contributions have been made to the assessment of Greenland halibut, pollock and redfish off eastern Canada, and to the U.S. South Atlantic wreckfish, menhaden and a number of groundfish in the Gulf of Maine including cod. More recently contributions have focussed on the revision of a Management Procedure for Greenland halibut. The Group also provides the scientific advice underlying the management of the lobster fishery off Tristan da Cunha, which constitutes the island's main economic activity.
Contributing Scientists: R. Rademeyer, S. Johnston
Southern Indian Ocean
Recent contributions have been made to the assessment of Alfonsino in the Southern Indian Ocean, the development of Harvest Strategies for key target species in the SIOFA area as well as testing the plausibility of three data poor Harvest Strategies to be applied to three of the main species in this area.
Contacts: A. Brandão, S. Johnston