Key points:
- The 69th International Whaling Commission meeting opens in Lima, Peru today.
- Whales are still under threat globally, despite progress made since the 1982 moratorium on commercial whaling.
- Australia’s east coast humpback population is a success story, recovering from just 100 individuals in 1963 to an estimate of around 35-40,000 today.
- Not all whale populations are thriving, and they face pressures, including accidental bycatch in fishing gear, plastic pollution, ship strikes and climate change impacting their food source.
- Some countries, like Japan, Iceland and Norway, continue to hunt whales, and there are attempts to lift the global whaling moratorium.
- Australia supports a modernised International Whaling Commission focused on conservation, and many countries recognise the decline in whale meat consumption.
- The meeting will discuss critical issues like the IWC’s budget and decision-making processes, with the future of the Commission hanging in the balance.
- We’ll be doing everything we can here in Peru to ensure our whales can continue to enjoy hard won protections.
The 69th meeting of the International Whaling Commission kicks off today in Lima, Peru, and once again it promises to be a critical week for whale conservation.
In Australia and overseas, our whales remain under more threat than ever before. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is an essential body to help maintain important protections for whales, with regards to whaling and beyond.
This year it is even more important, with Japan having recently expanded its whaling program to include fin whales, and Iceland and Norway continuing to hunt whales. There remain significant attempts, including at this week’s meeting, to lift the global whaling moratorium and justify the need to restart whaling. The global whaling moratorium on commercial whaling was agreed in 1982 by members of the International Whaling Commission meeting, after more than three million whales were killed in the 20th century for their oil and meat. 42 years later, this moratorium has delivered protection for countless whales, ensuring that in many cases species and populations have been pulled back from the edge of extinction.
Australia’s east coast humpback population is a perfect example of this, having shown remarkable recovery. However, not all whale populations have recovered so strongly, and there are many pressures still facing whales worldwide as they are caught accidentally in fishing operations, tangled or consume plastic and marine debris, hit by ships, and impacted by climate change as it affects their prey such as krill.
There continue to be relentless calls from some countries to lift the moratorium to enable commercial whaling once again, in an attempt to reignite this cruel and unnecessary industry worldwide. Whales cross international boundaries with no limitations, so we need an international body to ensure their continued protection. We have been concerned by the commentary in advance of this meeting to discredit the IWC by some authors, commentary which has been widely discredited internationally, and certainly not a position supported by us.
Countries such as Australia have long supported the ongoing need for a modernised IWC with a focus on the conservation of whales. Consumption of whale meat is on the decline even in the few countries undertaking whaling, questioning the drive for the re-establishment of whaling internationally.
In the coming week, critical issues such as the budget of the IWC will be discussed, as well as important decisions around how decisions are made, with the very future of the Commission hanging in the balance. Whilst such big issues remain at play, and with costs ever rising, the global whaling moratorium rests on the crucial decisions made at this week’s meeting.
Australians love our whales and our waters provide them with vital protection, which they need in order to perform their key role in healthy marine ecosystems. Many of us enjoy watching whales on their annual migration along our coasts. This week we’ll be doing everything we can here in Peru to ensure our whales can continue to enjoy the international community’s hard-earned protections.