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Minke whale population in the Antarctic estimated at 760,000

The IWC adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982 with a proviso that "by 1990 at the latest, the Commission will undertake a Comprehensive Assessment (CA) of the effects of this decision on whale stocks and consider modification of this provision and the establishment of other catch limits."

The IWC Scientific Committee now agrees on the estimates resulting from the Comprehensive Assessment that at least 760,000 minke whales exist in the Antarctic and 25,000 in the Okhotsk Sea and West-North Pacific.
In 1994, the IWC adopted the Revised Management Procedure (RMP) developed by the IWC Scientific Committee. The RMP is a management tool for setting catch quotas for whale stocks at sustainable levels without risk to their populations. Simulation trials using the RMP for Antarctic minke whales conducted by the Scientific Committee have revealed that 200,000 animals may be taken over 100 years without risk or harm to the population.

However, the RMP has not been implemented because the development of an administrative scheme called the RMS is not yet completed.

Populations of Minke Whales (source: IWC 1996)