34 Biological Conservation

s6ances de travail, des contacts puissent 8tre pris entre les membres de ces deux Commissions.

La Commission sp6ciale de I ' IPU examina plusieurs documents concernant la pollution des eaux douces et se pencha plus particuli6rement sur les activit6s d 'autres organisations internationales dans ce domaine. Un expos6 suivi d 'une discussion fut 6galement con- sacr6 ~. la Conf6rence d'experts sur les bases scien- tifiques pour l 'utilisation rationnelle et la conservation des ressources de la Biosphere, organis6e en septembre 1968 par I 'UNESCO.

Les discussions por t , rent tout sp6cialement sur le r61e que les parlementaires ont ~t remplir pour assurer et contribuer ~ la conservation, le d6veloppement et l 'utilisation des ressources natureUes. L ' importance des mesures 16gislatives modernes, ainsi que du contr61e de leur application, la coordination et la modernisation des politiques en cause furent 6galement discut6es. La Commission sp6ciale reconnut la n6cessit6 d 'une 6ducation du public en matibre de conservation et souligna la n6cessit6 d 'accorder des moyens suffisants aux organes et organismes charg6s de la conservation de la Nature et des ressources

naturelles; elle 6voqua 6galement la possibilit6 d'61aborer une convention internationale pour la conservation des ressources naturelles.

Comme il n'est pas d'usage, 5. I ' IPU, de r6diger des proc~s verbaux de r6unions de groupes de travail cr66s par les Commissions de l 'Union, pour y permettre des discussions plus libres, il n'existe pas de compte- rendu de cette r6union de la Commission sp6ciale pour la Conservation de la Nature. Des th~mes d6velopp6s r6sulta cependant un projet de r6solution sur 'le rble des parlements dans la protection du milieu humain et la conservation des ressources naturelles pour les g~n6rations futures'.

Le travail de la Commission sp6ciale pour la Con- servation de la Nature a 6t6 rapport6 par M. le S6nateur A Dua (Belgique) ~t la session de la Commission pour l 'Educat ion, la Science et la Culture, qui s'est tenue r6cemment h Vienne (Autriche). La r6solution, telle qu'elle a 6t6 adopt6e par cette Commission, sera pr6sent6e au vote de la Conf6rence Inter- parlementaire qui se r6unira h New Delhi (Inde) en octobre 1969

Oxfam Walk to Wembley, England

On Sunday 13 July, 1969, an estimated 50,000 young school people walked some 30 miles (48 km) from their homes in and around London to Wembley Stadium to raise £250,000 for Oxfam. Private and official sponsors gave from 3d. to £1.0.0. per mile walked by each participant. In tem- peratures of around 82°F (27'8°C), the young people, aged

Fig. 1.

in the main from 13 to 18 years, walked for an average of 10 hours, and this Journal is glad to announce that it spon- sored a walk by one of them who carried the Journal's name and indications of its objectives for the whole period. How many private London citizens saw the exhibit is impossible to say.

The young schoolboy shown in the accompanying figure was Clive Rayner, aged 14½ years, of Hornchurch, Essex, England, and he was the one we sponsored in our feeling of solidarity with all who strive to alleviate suffering in this world--be it directly, through feeding the hungry, or indirectly, through preservation of the biosphere and maintenance of biological productivity.

Status and Conservation of the Harp Seal*

The present controversy over the Harp Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) raises two distinct issues: the allegation of cruelty to animals during harvesting, and the conservation of a depleted species. The allegations of cruelty are under investigation by organizations established for this specific purpose. IUCN is not one of these organizations, but it firmly supports constructive action to ensure that sealing is conducted in a rational and humane manner. It is the conservation of the species which is of particular concern to IUCN.

The Harp Seal is a highly migratory species occurring in the subarctic and arctic regions of the North Atlantic. Three virtually discrete breeding stocks have been identi- fied: (1) the eastern stock breeds in the White Sea, and * An unabridged version of this statement appeared in the IUCN Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. l l, April/June 1969.

Short Communications 35

ranges north to Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef, and Spits- bergen; (2) the central stock breeds near Jan Mayen Island, and summers from East Greenland to Spitsbergen; (3) the western stock is subdivided into two sub-groups, of which one breeds in the Gulf of St Lawrence (the 'Gulf ') and the other near Belle Isle off the east coast of Labrador and the north coast of Newfoundland (the 'Front').

The seals congregate in the breeding areas at the end of winter and haul out onto the sea-ice to whelp their young, to breed, and to moult their fur. The principal products from the seal harvest are furs, blubber, and leather. The 'white coat' of the newly-born pup remains fast only during the first week of its life: it is shed after two weeks and replaced by a grey, black-blotched coat (a 'beater' pelt). There is less demand for 'beater' pelts than for 'white coats', but young 'beaters' usually carry a greater weight of blubber. The market values of both types of pelt have declined considerably within the past five years.

Estimates of total populations must be treated with caution. Most pre-1940 statistics are incomplete, and recent analyses of the results of aerial photographic surveys, which are currently the most reliable source of information, sug- gest that they tend to underestimate the true figures. The original world population of the harp seal has been esti- mated at about 10 million, of which the White Sea herd comprised 4.5 million, the Jan Mayen herd 1.0 million, the 'Gulf ' sub-group 1.75 million, and the 'Front ' sub-group 3"25 million. However, numbers have been reduced, very seriously in some herds, by commercial hunting, and present estimates of the world population lie in the region of 3 million.

The following measures have been taken to stop or reduce the decline: (1) White Sea: the USSR, through the Sealing Commission for the North-East Atlantic, has pro- hibited sealing by vessels from 1965 to 1969. Local inhabi- tants may take up to 20,000 pups per year. Norway per- mits only small vessels to operate in this area and the length of the sealing season is restricted. (2) Jan Mayen : a Soviet/Norwegian treaty through the Sealing Commission controls hunting by agreed open and closing dates. (3) 'Gulf ' : since 1965, Canadian sealing has been controlled by a quota for young seals and other restrictions. 'Front ' : since 1968, a Canadian/Norwegian agreement, through the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF), restricts the timing and length of the sealing season.

A comparison of the results of air surveys of seals in the White Sea in 1963 and 1968 indicates a gradual increase in the numbers of this herd. The effects of the present restric- tions and the need for modification of future regulations will be considered by the Sealing Commission late this year.

Air surveys have not been successful in the Jan Mayen region, but analyses of Norwegian catches, related to time and effort, suggest that the availability of seals has de- creased throughout the period from 1946 to 1967, while the number of Norwegian sealing vessels in the area has also decreased (to 25 in 1967).

In the 'Gulf ' , current production of young seals is estimated to be 250 thousand, of which 90 thousand represents the sustainable yield, provided that kills of other age-groups are kept low. Annual harvests since 1950 have exceeded this permissible cull on only three occasions.

Harp sealing at the 'Front ' is practised by both Canadian and Norwegian ships. Over-exploitation, particularly since 1950, has caused a serious decline in populations. Recent kills at the rate of 180 thousand pups a year have

probably taken almost the entire production, and there has been a sizeable cull of immature and adult animals. In 1968, the season was shortened and the open dates were delayed, which reduced the pup kill to 97 thousand and that of older animals from 47 thousand to 30 thousand. This measure also protected adult females which moult late. The most recent estimate of the sustainable yield is approximately 75 thousand; hence this herd is still being over-exploited. It is understood that the need for further restrictions on future harvests is being examined.

It is concluded that the Harp Seal is in no danger of extinction. It is still numerous although its populations have been substantially depleted as a result of excessive commercial hunting. Within the past few years, all the nations which practise harp sealing have introduced new or additional restrictions on their catches. Regulations in the White Sea and the Gulf of St Lawrence are sufficient to prevent further depletion, but those in the Jan Mayen and Labrador/Newfoundland coast regions are not. It is essen- tial that the Governments of Canada, Norway, and the USSR, take early action to introduce additional controls on present harvests, to safeguard these already depleted herds. Future regulations in all areas should be designed not only to prevent depletion but, through controlled management, to restore populations to their optimum level of abundance.

SURVIVAL SERVICE COMMISSION, IUCN, 1110 Morges, Switzerland.

The Great Rhine Fish-kill

As widely reported in the European Press, an estimated 40 million fish along about 400 km of the Rhine--one of the world's great arterial waterways--have been suddenly killed as a result of pollution apparently by the insecticide Endosulfan seeping into the water from barges upstream in West Germany. Endosufan is particularly toxic to a wide range of fishes.

While deploring this calamity for the loss and suffering involved, we cannot refrain from commenting that, as in the case of the Torrey Canyon disaster, it has its beneficial side to conservation as a whole in that it helps to awaken a wide public to the dangers of these kinds that beset us and, even more important, could lead to strong governmental action and international legislation.

As reported in The Times of 28 June, 1969, 'The search for the barge thought responsible for the pollution of the Rhine, in which millions of fish died, has narrowed to two possi- bilities, according to officials in Koblenz.' It is thought that no more than 100 kg of Endosulfan would have sufficed to cause the trouble, and that this could have seeped from a damaged barge.

Meanwhile it is gratifying to note that, whereas on one day shortly after the disaster any fish lowered into the water died within about seven minutes, others so lowered the next day survived even in areas which had been badly infected. Two days later the Dutch authorities decided that any poison which might still remain in their part of the river had become sufficiently diluted to allow them to open the sluices and permit farmers to graze their cattle in fields along the river which had previously been closed as a safe- guard. Yet the effects on marine life in the North Sea where the poisoned waters go have yet to be determined.