1. In 1946, 14 countries signed the International Whaling Convention for the regulation of whaling, forming the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The purpose of the IWC is to manage whale stocks as a resource.
2. Today the IWC monitors whale populations through scientific advisory groups and makes management proposals to member nations. For instance, the IWC makes recommendations on how many whales natives should harvest in subsistence hunting.
3. In 1986, the IWC declared a moratorium on commercial whaling. However, provisions of the moratorium allow for some whales to be taken. In 1988, 700 whales were killed under scientific research and aboriginal subsistence provisions of the IWC.
4. At times, various nations threaten to ignore the IWC recommendations and resume
whaling. The IWC has no means by which to enforce regulations.
1. The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972 made it illegal to hunt or harass any marine mammal in the U.S.
a. The MMPA does allow for certain exceptions: native subsistence hunting; taking marine mammals for research, education, and public display; and taking restricted numbers of marine mammals incidentally in the course of fishing operations.
b. The primary objective of the MMPA is to maintain the health and stability of the marine ecosystem and to obtain and maintain an optimum sustainable population of marine mammals.
c. According to the MMPA, all whales in U.S. waters (baleen and toothed) are under the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Services.
This Bryde's whale, rescued off a Florida beach, was rehabilitated at Sea
World of Florida and successfully released back to sea.
2. Six species of baleen whales are listed for protection under theUnited States Endangered Species Act of 1973: the blue, bowhead, fin, humpback, right, and sei whales.
a. The primary reason for their endangerment is overhunting during the years of commercial whaling.
b. The eastern Pacific gray whale population was removed from the Endangered Species List in 1993 because it seems to have reached pre-whaling numbers (about 21,000 whales in 1993).
3. The Convention in International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) is an international treaty developed in 1973 to regulate trade in certain wildlife species. CITES protects all species of baleen whales.
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