Fast Declining Whale Populations – Cause For Further Concern
There has been a serious consideration now to establish a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic
PICTURE COURTESY : International Fund for Animal Welfare
Once widely abundant across the earth’s oceans, some whale populations have been declining for many years and some of them are now on the brink of extinction. The 69th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC69) held from 23–27 September 2024 agreed to the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). It also adopted resolutions on cooperation with the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Antarctica and on international legal obligations in commercial whaling activities.
Initially the primary cause of this decline was commercial whaling. Later whales also face threats from bycatch, entanglement in fishing nets, ship strikes, marine pollution, and climate change, which is shifting the location and availability of food sources. In 1982 The International Whaling Commission (IWC) established a moratorium on commercial whaling to allow whale populations to recover. Which came into effect in 1986. There has been a serious consideration now to establish a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic.
Commercial whaling in the early Middle Ages and intensified during much of the 20th century. In the 20th century an estimated 2.9 million whales were harvested, with nearly 70,000 whales taken annually in the 1960s. Declining stocks and increased public pressure led to adoption of a moratorium on commercial whaling by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1982, which entered into force in 1986—an action considered critical for the survival of many whale species. The IWC decided that there should be a pause in commercial whaling on all whale species and populations from 1986 onwards. This pause is often referred to as the commercial whaling moratorium, and it remains in place today.
The writer of this article is Dr. Seema Javed, an environmentalist & a communications professional in the field of climate and energy
