10 February 2025: Report of the 31st Meeting of the NAMMCO Scientific Committee now available

The 31st meeting of the NAMMCO Scientific Committee was held in Tromsø, Norway, from 21 to 24 January 2025, chaired by Aqqalu Rosing-Asvid (Greenland). The meeting brought together scientific delegates from NAMMCO member countries, as well as observers from Japan, to discuss the latest scientific developments and progress on requests made by the Council concerning marine mammals in the North Atlantic.

Key discussions included interactions between marine mammals and fisheries, the need to explore alternative data collection and modelling methods, and the impacts of environmental changes on marine mammals. The Committee also reviewed the progress of the working groups focusing on genetics, by-catch, and abundance estimation, and discussed plans for upcoming species assessments.

The Scientific Committee made recommendations for managers and researchers, regarding pilot whales, harbour porpoises, killer whales, dolphins, narwhals, ringed seals, bearded seals, and coastal seals. Finally, the Committee forwarded procedural recommendations to other NAMMCO bodies regarding future meetings and internal processes.

The full report is now available on the NAMMCO website: Scientific Committee reports