Whale sanctuaries 

• Brazil is proposing to establish a South Atlantic Sanctuary. This proposal has been put forward and rejected several times because it has no scientific basis and because it does not conform with the objectives of the Whaling Convention.
• There are currently two sanctuaries established by the IWC, the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean.
• The Indian Ocean Sanctuary was established by the IWC in 1979. It was initially established for 10 years and its duration has since been extended twice.
• The Southern Ocean Sanctuary was established in 1994 without any recommendation of the IWC Scientific Committee. It shall be reviewed every ten years.
• Japan lodged an objection to the Southern Ocean Sanctuary as provided for under the Convention and it is therefore not bound by it.

High North Alliance opinion on whale sanctuaries:

·         Sanctuaries could be a useful management measure in the same way as open and closed areas are used for fisheries management.

·         Currently, sanctuaries are redundant as the RMS (Revised Management Scheme) will provide the necessary protection for all whale species and stocks in need. The RMS will only permit hunting of healthy and abundant whale stocks.

·         The current sanctuaries do not differentiate between stocks that are abundant and stocks that are still considered depleted.