Buenos Aires, Sept. 27, (dpa/GNA) – A proposal to establish a new whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic ocean was voted down at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) conference in Peru on Friday.
The proposal, which was put forward by Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, failed to win the required three-quarters majority by just one vote.
If passed, it would have seen the establishment of the third whale sanctuary in the world, after one in the Antarctic and another in the Indian Ocean.
Nicolas Entrup of the environmental organization Ocean Care described the result as a “missed opportunity.”
The South American member states of the IWC have been trying to establish a much-needed sanctuary for whales in the South Atlantic for over 20 years, but it has never been so close, he said.
Environmentalists nevertheless celebrated the close vote as a partial success. Currently only Japan, Norway and Iceland still engage in commercial whaling.
“This was the first resolution in over 20 years to condemn commercial whaling by Japan, Norway and Iceland and remind them of their obligations under international maritime law,” said Sandra Altherr of the conservation organization Pro Wildlife.
The environmental organization Greenpeace also welcomed the resolution. “It is important and good news that the IWC has today reaffirmed the moratorium on commercial whaling by a large majority. At the same time, it is tiresome to have to repeatedly defend what has long been decided, while whales and the oceans as a whole are now facing a growing threat,” said Greenpeace marine biologist Franziska Saalmann.
“Whales play a central role in marine ecosystems and urgently need better protection – from commercial hunters, but also from bycatch, the climate crisis and the looming start of deep-sea mining,” she added. GNA