21 April 2006 - Australia and
New Zealand are working together on best practice
whale rescue initiatives and are keen to share
their expertise with the region, Australian Minister
for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian
Campbell said at a meeting today with New Zealand’s
Minister for Conservation, Chris Carter.
The Ministers met today as Australian and New
Zealand environment officials began bilateral
discussions to exchange information and develop
a collaborative program on a range of issues including
whale and dolphin strandings, disentanglement
strategies, whale watching guidelines, and whale
research programmes.
“Australia and New Zealand have an excellent track
record in collaborating on whale conservation
and in working together to achieve results at
an international level and at the International
Whaling Commission,” Senator Campbell said.
“Today’s discussions allow us to build on our
strong partnership, share information on whale
and dolphin research and discuss ways in which
we can use our knowledge and experience in a positive
ways throughout the region.
“I am also pleased to have the opportunity to
formally launch a range of initiatives that the
Australian Government has put in place to protect
whales and dolphins.
“Australia recently revised its National Guidelines
for Whale and Dolphin Watching to set the benchmark
for best practice and I'm sure these guidelines
could be helpful to other countries in the region
to assist with sustainable management of expanding
whale watching industries.
“New satellite tagging techniques have also been
developed by Australian researchers which will
help rescue whales entangled in nets and marine
debris.
The new satellite tagging equipment will help
to track whales so a rescue operation can resume
if unsafe conditions have made it difficult to
free whales from entanglements.
These techniques and other rescue innovations
will be shared with State Government agencies
at a disentanglement workshop at Victor Harbor
in South Australia from 2-3 May.
The Australian Government also has a broad range
of information resources including a new National
Sightings and Strandings Database.
“While still in its infancy, the database will
become a central hub for information on strandings,
sightings and whale distributions that will complement
the other detailed databases in Australia and
New Zealand,” Senator Campbell said.
A further workshop is planned for Auckland later
this year.
