ECO: The Environmental Voice at the International Whaling Comission | International Marine Mammal Project

ECO: The environmental voice at the IWC

ECO is published by Earth Island Institute’s International Marine Mammal Project at the meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Madeira, Portugal, on behalf of environmental and animal welfare organizations around the globe.

For further information, please contact: Mark J. Palmer, Associate Director, Earth Island Institute, International Marine Mammal Project.

Thank You, Australia!

Volume LXI · No. 2 · Madeira, Portugal · Tuesday June 23, 2009
Acrobat .pdf of issue

The government of Australia has been moving forward in several important ways to stop the misuse of science in the Southern Oceans while promoting non-lethal forms of research.

The government has put up 14 million Australian dollars to conduct research on whales and their ecosystem in the Southern Ocean, providing useful data untainted by commercial bias so clearly evident in Japan’s so-called “scientific” whaling operations. Plus the whales will still be alive after they are studied.

Australia is also proposing a number of changes to the Scientific Committee structure and process to help improve management and scientific information about key whale stocks and environmental problems.

We thank Australia for their enlightened efforts to protect and study whales, and we urge other governments to follow their lead this week at the IWC meeting.

And if the rumors are true that the United States delegation, full of Bush appointees and back-room dealmakers, are indeed criticizing the Australian delegation for their initiatives, shame on the US!