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
