Last week while we were chit-chatting away about ice cream and bald eagles in celebration of the July 4th holiday we completely missed taking a look at the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) 64th annual meeting. The convention was a little less than a month long and concluded in Panama City, Panama on July 6th. 

The IWC speaks for the whales by implementating whale hunting regulations, protecting existing whale populations, and promoting herd growth.

The United States was one of eighty-nine countries present. NOAA, select staff from the State Department,  the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, the Department of the Interior and private citizens were in attendance to discuss whale conservation and policy.

According to a NOAA statement, there are two dominating viewpoints on whale conservation:  “The countries split between those that support commercial whaling and countries opposed to commercial whaling.”

“It’s incredibly challenging at times to come to agreement, but it’s a process that NOAA and our partners are totally dedicated to,” said Doug DeMaster, the U.S. commissioner to the IWC. “I’ve been doing this for 23 years, and we’ve seen everything from countries walking out of difficult discussions to consensus being reached within a single session.”

During the meeting the IWC renewed aboriginal subsistence whaling catch limits through the year 2018 for bowhead whales hunted by Alaska Natives and gray whales hunted by the Makah Tribe in Washington. The annual catch limits remain the same as they were in previous years under the advisement of the IWC Scientific Committee to maintain sustainability and to consider the cultural and nutritional needs of native tribes.

At the IWC summit the two top threats to whales were discussed: disentanglement response particularly in Argentina and Brazil where more training and education is needed to assist whales accidentally caught in nets and ship strike avoidance methods. The U.S. has reduced the number of strikes in our jurisdiction by ship speed restrictions, keeping boats out of whale birthing areas, monitoring, and continuing education and outreach.

The U.S. delegates at IWC talked about strengthening the international moratorium on commercial whaling. The thirty year old policy is upheld by the U.S. but Japan, Iceland, and Norway disregard some of the rules and practice illegal commercial whaling.

Responsible whale watching was another popular topic as the industry continues to grow and becomes a tourist draw in coastal communities. The U.S. is the whale watching working group chair for the IWC.

“The United States looks forward to continuing its partnership with other countries on whale conservation,” added Ryan Wulff, U.S. Alternate Commissioner for the IWC.  “It is imperative that the IWC focus more of its attention on global conservation problems such as climate change, by-catch, marine debris, disentanglement, pollution and ocean noise. This is important work, and we have seen a lot of progress so far, but we intend to continue the push in this area.”