Given the shift in the management measure by the
Scientific Committee from the NMP to the RMP, Objective 1 was reworded
to “estimation of the biological parameters to improve the stock management of the Southern Hemisphere minke whale” in 1997364 Japan kept this item as the primary objective of JARPA because estimation of the natural mortality rate, useful for understanding the population dynamics of minke whales, remained very important for the management of whale stocks