the standards set by the ICJ the following year. JARPN From 1994 to 1999 Japan carried out its research program JARPN in the western North Pacific. Its stated goals were to improve knowledge of stock identity, improve implementation simulation trials for North Pacific common minke whales and act as a feasibility study for a program on feeding ecology. The program called for 100 minke whales annually. The results were reviewed by the committee in February 2000. The committee agreed that the information was useful for management but no consensus was reached on whether lethal methods of research were necessary. As with JARPA, the IWC issued resolutions calling for Japan to cease issuing permits for the take of minke whales citing concerns over the need for lethal methods such as the 1999-3 Resolution on whaling under Special Permit. JARPN II JARPN II began with a feasibility study from 2000 to 2001 to continue taking whales in the western North Pacific Ocean including 100 common minke whales, 50 Bryde's whales and 10 sperm whales. The objectives of the program included study of feeding ecology (such as prey consumption), stock structure and the environmental impacts of cetaceans. In 2002 after the completion of the initial study, Japan proposed and began a long-term program to study how feeding ecology relates to sustainable use in the Pacific and within Japan's exclusive economic zone. In 2008 the program included a proposal for an annual take of 340 minke whales, 50 Bryde's whales, 100 sei and 10 sperm whales. Disagreement over the objectives, methodology, effect on stocks and overall success of the program continued in the scientific committee review of the feasibility study and full program. The full program introduced a change from previous use of the ICRW Article VIII research provision by not specifying an end date. The objectives were deemed unnecessary for stock management by some members, and that it would not contribute significantly to previously identified research needs. The sample size and methods proposed were unlikely to satisfy the program objectives, and the ecosystem modeling was considered to be poorly developed. Some contended the program placed undue emphasis on assumed negative effects of cetacean predation on fishery resources while failing to address the effects of fisheries on cetaceans. However, others believed determining the effects of cetaceans on fish stocks and more information on minke stock structure to be critically important. Some stated the feasibility