Brazil Declares Whale Sanctuary Along Entire Coast
BRASILIA, Brazil, December 18, 2008 (ENS) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva today signed a federal decree establishing the Brazilian Whale and Dolphin Sanctuary, reinforcing protection for all cetacean species in Brazilian jurisdictional waters. Brazilian waters stretch along the nation’s 8,000 kilometer (5,000 mile) long coastline on the east and northeast coast of [...]
Read More »Chile Passes National Whale Sanctuary Law
VALPARISO, Chile, September 11, 2008 (ENS) – The Chilean Congress today unanimously approved a bill declaring Chilean jurisdictional waters to be a whale sanctuary. Now, the bill heads to the desk of President Michelle Bachelet who originally submitted the measure to Congress. She is expected to announce the bill as a Law of the Republic [...]
Read More »INSIGHTS: Waving the White Flag on Whaling
YARMOUTH PORT, Massachusetts, September 10, 2008 (ENS) – In this season of political polarization, it is rare to find a massive issue on which we all agree. But thar’ she blows! From sea to shining sea and across the political spectrum, Americans love whales. Polls conducted over the past decade consistently show overwhelming majorities of [...]
Read More »International Whaling Commission Makes Little Progress
SANTIAGO, Chile, July 1, 2008 (ENS) – The International Whaling Commission wound up its annual meeting here Friday without achieving new protections for whales or resolving the deep rifts that divide the member governments into pro-whaling and pro-conservation factions. The meeting centered on the future of the commission with only brief clashes between the two [...]
Read More »Court Order Sought to Protect Whales From Ship Collisions
WASHINGTON, DC, June 26, 2008 (ENS) – Today, three conservation groups filed a lawsuit to force NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service to require ships to slow down to 10 knots in certain areas to avoid fatal collisions with endangered North Atlantic right whales. Hunted nearly to extinction by the early 20th century, the North Atlantic [...]
Read More »Cooperative Spirit Emerges at Whaling Commission Meeting
SANTIAGO, Chile, June 24, 2008 (ENS) – With whaling nations and their allies on one side and pro-conservation nations on the other, annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission have been increasingly gridlocked and acrimonious. But today at the 60th annual IWC meeting in Santiago there was a breakthrough. The 81 member governments agreed on [...]
Read More »Chilean President Proposes Whaling Ban, Whale Sanctuary
SANTIAGO, Chile, May 21, 2008 (ENS) – To a unanimous ovation of the Chilean Congress, President Michelle Bachelet today announced that she will send legislation to parliament banning all whaling activities in Chilean waters and creating a whale sanctuary. During her annual state of the country address, President Bachelet said Chile will have this law [...]
Read More »Greenpeace Reports Theft of Whale Meat by Whaling Crews
TOKYO, Japan, May 19, 2008 (ENS) – A Greenpeace undercover investigation has revealed evidence of theft involving crewmembers on board the factory whaler Nisshin Maru, who are taking the best cuts of whale meat from whales caught during the Japanese Antarctic hunt, smuggling it ashore disguised as personal luggage and then passing it on to [...]
Read More »Greenpeace Chases Japanese Whalers in Antarctic Sanctuary
SOUTHERN OCEAN, January 11, 2008 (ENS) – The Greenpeace ship Esperanza today confronted Japan’s whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The whaling fleet sailed away from the Esperanza, which is now in pursuit. While the fleet is on the run, the whalers are unable to hunt, Greenpeace said. The Japanese government has declared [...]
Read More »Japan Suspends Humpback Whale Hunt
TOKYO, Japan, December 21, 2007 (ENS) – The government of Japan has agreed to suspend its plans to kill 50 humpback whales this year but only on condition that the International Whaling Commission, IWC, reinstates its original task of whale resource management. Dr. William Hogarth is director, National Marine Fisheries Service and chair of the [...]
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