For coastal nations with economies heavily dependent upon fisheries, the role of marine
mammals in the marine ecosystem is an area of special interest and growing research
effort. The desire to understand interactions between species, and the ecological
relationship between marine mammals and commercially important fish stocks, is shaping
management policies away from the single-species approach to a recognition of the
importance of developing appropriate and workable multi-species models for marine
resource management - also taking into account the effects of other human impacts, such
as pollution, on the marine ecosystem. NAMMCO's approach also takes account of
economic, social and cultural considerations.
Council NAMMCO Member countries are represented primarily by their respective
fisheries administrations in the Council of NAMMCO, which is the decision-making body
of the Commission. NAMMCO has reciprocal observer arrangements with
intergovernmental organizations including the International Council for the Exploration of
the Sea (ICES), the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the Northwest Atlantic
Fisheries Organization (NAFO) and the Agreement on the Conservation of
Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS).
Scientific Committee
NAMMCO is founded on the conviction that effective management of marine mammal
populations is dependent on cooperation between states through the appropriate
international organizations. Although it has potential application to all marine mammal
species in the North Atlantic, NAMMCO has initially focused its work on the conservation
and management of animals which have not before been covered by such an international
agreement - the smaller species of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and pinnipeds (seals
and walruses). So far, the Scientific Committee has been requested to provide
scientific advice on harp seals and hooded seals, ringed seals and grey seals, long-finned
pilot whales, killer whales, bottlenose whales and Atlantic walruses.
Atlantic walrus
Bottlenose whale
Ringed seal and grey seal
After only three years of formal operation, NAMMCO's work is well underway. The
hunting of whales and seals is an integral part of local cultures and economies in
NAMMCO member countries. Conservation therefore involves a hands-on approach to
management of marine living resources to ensure that human use of marine mammal
resources in the North Atlantic can be sustained in the future.
Kate Sanderson, Secretary,
NAMMCO's Scientific Committee is central to the work of the organisation. It is made up
of three members from each NAMMCO member country and its role is to provide
scientific advice in response to requests from Council members.
At its last meeting (Copenhagen January 1995), the Scientific Committee initiated the first
full review of the status of the Atlantic walrus throughout its range, based on a report
prepared by a group of experts from Greenland, Canada and Norway. The review
indicated, in particular, that the species appears to be declining in parts of its northwest
range, which resulted in a Council recommendation in February that Greenland take steps
to arrest this decline along its west coast. The background report of the walrus expert
group is due to be published in the Meddelelser series of the Norwegian Polar Institute.
The Scientific Committee has also carried out the first conclusive assessment of the
northern bottlenose whale population, on the basis of which it could be confirmed that the
population can sustain the limited traditional inshore catch of this species in the Faroe
Islands, where small numbers of bottlenose whales have stranded on a regular basis for
centuries, and their meat and oil have been used locally.
The Scientific Committee is currently planning work for its forthcoming comprehensive
review of the biology, status and ecological role of the ringed seal and the grey seal,
which will be dealt with at the next meeting of the Scientific Committee in Tórshavn
(Faroe Islands) in February 1996. External scientific expertise from a number of countries
will be involved in preparing background studies for the Scientific Committee's review of
these species.
North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO)
University of Tromsø 9037 Tromsø Norway
Tel. +47 776 45908 Fax:+47 776 45905
E-mail: nammco-sec@nammco.no