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Conservation organisations unite to seek the end of all commercial whaling

LONDON: To mark this year’s 40th anniversary of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling, a coalition of conservation and animal welfare organisations has joined forces to launch a global petition to end commercial whaling.

Despite the global ban, the governments of three countries – Iceland, Japan and Norway – have sanctioned the killing of more than 45,000 whales since 1986.

Their actions, with the support of a small group of IWC member countries, have consistently undermined the IWC’s efforts to protect whales and address the many threats they still face.

In its heyday, commercial whaling caused catastrophic population declines, especially for large species such as fin, sperm and blue whales. Many were hunted to near extinction and are still struggling to recover today.

Launched on World Whale Day (15 February), the End Commercial Whaling Coalition – www.endcommercialwhaling.org – is calling on all governments which support or permit commercial whaling to uphold the IWC’s moratorium and put an end to the commercial hunting of whales once and for all.

EIA Senior Ocean Advisor Clare Perry said: “Overfishing, pollution, biodiversity loss and the accelerating impacts of the climate crisis are pushing marine ecosystems to their limits.

“But whales play a vital role in maintaining healthy oceans, distributing nutrients, supporting phytoplankton growth and stabilising food webs. They also help regulate the climate by enhancing the ocean’s capacity to store carbon.

“It is ludicrous that in this day and age, when other IWC members ended commercial whaling 40 years ago in response to the moratorium decision and when so many people want to see it brought to a complete end, that just three countries remain outliers to the consensus that the world is significantly better off with whales in the world’s oceans instead of in pet food and in supermarkets.”

“There is no economic necessity for Iceland, Japan or Norway to hunt whales, only a refusal to evolve. At a time when the world is desperate for environmental leadership, it is indefensible for three of the world’s richest countries to bypass the IWC’s global moratorium on commercial whaling.

“We are calling on them to trade their harpoons for the cooperation the world so urgently needs.”

 

CONTACTS FOR MEDIA

  • Clare Perry, EIA UK Senior Ocean Adviser, via clareperry[at]eia-international.org
  • Paul Newman, EIA UK Senior Press & Communications Officer, via press[at]eia-international.org

 

EDITORS’ NOTES

  1. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) investigates and campaigns against environmental crime and abuse. Our undercover investigations expose transnational wildlife crime, with a focus on elephants, pangolins and tigers, and forest crimes such as illegal logging and deforestation for cash crops such as palm oil. We work to avert climate catastrophe by investigating the criminal trade in refrigerant gases, strengthening and enforcing regional and international agreements that tackle fossil fuels and climate super-pollutants, including ozone-depleting substances, hydrofluorocarbons and methane, and advocating corporate and policy measures to promote sustainable cooling. We work to safeguard global marine ecosystems by addressing the threats posed by plastic pollution, bycatch and commercial exploitation of whales, dolphins and porpoises. Our findings are used in hard-hitting reports to campaign for new legislation, improved governance and more effective enforcement. Our field experience is used to provide guidance to enforcement agencies and we form partnerships with local groups and activists and support their work through hands-on training.
  2. The founding members of the End Commercial Whaling Coalition are the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), ProWildlife, Instituto de Conservacion de Ballenas, Endangered Species Protection Agency (ESPA), Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), Centro de Conservación Cetacea (CCC Chilé), CETLaw, Fundación Cethus, the Whaleman Foundation and World Federation for Animals
  3. The next meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC70) will take place in Hobart, Australia from 27 September to 2 October 2026.

 

Environmental Investigation Agency
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London N1 0NY
UK
www.eia-international.org
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7354 7960

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