Media release
5 June 2010
Environment Protection Minister, Peter Garrett, today
launched the third National Whale Day for the International
Fund for Animal Welfare at the La Perouse Museum in Sydney.
"With just weeks to go before the
next International Whaling Commission meeting in Morocco,
National Whale Day is a reminder of the threats that the
world's whales and cetaceans face and the importance of
taking action to ensure their protection," Minister
Garrett said.
"This day is important because
it raises our awareness of the many threats faced by whales
- ship strikes, entanglements, strandings, habitat destruction,
climate change and, of course, so called 'scientific'
whaling - and celebrates the start of the season when
these great creatures appear off our shores.
"Once nearly driven from our oceans
by whaling, there are some welcome signs of recovery in
whale populations thanks to the IWC's moratorium on commercial
whaling and the establishment of significant whale sanctuaries
in the Indian and Southern Oceans.
"But, especially on World Environment
Day, it is sobering to remember that globally there are
fourteen species of whale still listed as threatened,
five of those species - the blue, southern right, sei,
fin and humpback whales - are currently listed under Australian
environment law as nationally threatened.
"The Australian Government is committed
to continuing the fight for the long lasting protection
of whales and we will continue to work hard in the lead
up to the annual IWC meeting in Agadir to pursue our fundamental
conservation objectives.
"Today I'm launching a new Twitter
account - PGwhalewatch - that will provide regular updates
on the work the Australian Government's doing to protect
whales. I encourage you to follow my tweets in the lead
up to and during the IWC meeting in Morocco later this
month," he said.
The Minister also announced the recipients
of more than $668,000 of non-lethal whale and dolphin
research funding.
"The projects funded by the Australian
Government will utilise the most powerful non-lethal research
techniques to build our scientific knowledge of whales
and dolphins not only in our backyard but across the Pacific
and Indian Oceans," he said
"The Government is committed to
advancing non-lethal whale research nationally, regionally
and globally.
"These projects are funded through
the Government's six-year $32 million package of non-lethal
whale research.
"Nationally, the $440,000 three-year
Bill Dawbin Postdoctoral Fellowship for applied strategic
cetacean research has been awarded to Murdoch University
Marine Scientist, Dr Amanda Hodgson," Mr Garrett
said.
Dr Hodgson's project will use innovative
methods and technology to monitor marine mammal abundance,
distribution and habitat use, including miniature remotely
controlled aircraft, equipped with cameras and sensors
to conduct unmanned aerial marine mammal surveys.
"Dr Hodgson's cutting edge research
will be investigating whether this new technology can
improve current manned aerial survey methods by eliminating
human risk, increasing accuracy of detection, location
and identification of species, and enabling surveys in
remote regions where manned surveys are impossible,"
Mr Garrett said.
The Minister also announced that the
new Indo-Pacific Cetacean Research and Conservation Fund
will provide $228,000 for four three-year projects in
the waters off Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Fiji and Bangladesh.
The following projects have been funded:
The development of a long-term cetacean
conservation and management plan that will increase knowledge
of the diversity of cetaceans in Papua New Guinea. This
project will undertake whale surveys in the Bismarck Sea
will help develop the practical field research skills
of Papua scientists.
Surveys that will aid the conservation
of whale and dolphin populations in the North Arabian
Sea, along the Balochistan Coast in Pakistan determining
their abundance, diversity, and seasonal habitat use.
The surveys will help in managing threats to cetaceans
in this region.
A study that will document the migration
patterns of endangered Oceania humpback whales in Fijian
waters and establish a long-term dataset for monitoring
trends in humpback whale migration.
A study that will assess the abundance,
ranging patterns, habitat selection and fisheries interactions
of Indo-Pacific humpback and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins
in coastal waters of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh.
"As well as delivering important
whale science, all these non-lethal projects have a particular
focus on capacity building and support for conservation
management in developing countries.
"Projects like these demonstrate
once again that in the 21st Century we no longer need
to kill these magnificent creatures to learn more about
them," he said.
+ More
Minister calls on IWC nations to stay
firm on Whale Conservation
Media release
13 June 2010
Environment Protection Minister, Peter Garrett, today
called on member nations of the International Whaling
Commission to work together at the upcoming International
Whaling Commission annual meeting to secure the effective
conservation of the world’s whales.
Launching an on-line video message Minister
Garrett called on those nations that had a proud history
of standing up for the conservation whales to join Australia
and a growing number of other IWC nations to preserve
the moratorium on commercial whaling.
“We are a week out from the single most
important annual meeting of the International Whaling
Commission in almost 30 years,” Mr Garrett said.
“This year’s meeting in Morocco is a
new crossroads in the battle to conserve and protect the
world’s whale populations.
“At this meeting the IWC is considering
a proposal that would once again legitimise commercial
whaling operations.
“Governments are being asked to allow
limited commercial whaling and agree to allow Iceland,
Japan and Norway to hunt almost 13,000 whales over the
next 10 years.
“This proposal would permit whaling
in the IWC whale sanctuary in the Southern Ocean and would
also allow threatened species like fin and sei whales
to be hunted.
“The Australian Government cannot accept
this proposal as it currently stands.
“Instead, our own proposal for IWC reform
seeks nine key improvements to the Chairs’ plan, including
an end to so-called ‘scientific’ whaling, an end to Southern
Ocean whaling and whaling on vulnerable species, and the
rigorous use of science. We are heartened by the number
of conservation-minded countries, who, on the eve of this
crucial IWC conference, are declaring themselves forcefully
in support of these vital principles of whale conservation.
“We welcome the efforts of the Latin
American countries and many European countries to ensure
the outcome from this meeting does not undo the conservation
gains of the past two decades. We will keep working with
these countries and others, including New Zealand and
the United States, to promote genuine IWC reform and improved
protection for whales globally.
“Australia is committed to continue
the fight for stronger and longer lasting conservation
actions for the world’s great whales. This is not the
time to go backwards,” Mr Garrett said.
To view the video message go to http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/garrett/iwc/index.html
Follow the Minister's regular IWC updates on Twitter -
twitter.com/PGwhalewatch
