SANCTUARIES
The first IWC sanctuary was established in the
Antarctic in 1938, south of 40°S between longitudes
70°W and 160°W. The original reason for this was
that in this sector commercial whaling had not
hitherto been prosecuted and it was thought highly
desirable that the immunity which whales in this
area had enjoyed should be maintained. This
sanctuary was continued by the IWC from its
inception until 1955, when the area was opened
initially for three years as a means of reducing the
pressure of catches on the rest of the Antarctic
whaling grounds.
The Indian Ocean Sanctuary was established by the
IWC in 1979, extending south to 55°S latitude, as an
area where commercial whaling is prohibited. The Indian
Ocean Sanctuary was initially established for 10 years
and its duration has since been extended twice.
At the 46th (1994) Annual Meeting the IWC adopted
the Southern Ocean Sanctuary as another area in which
commercial whaling is prohibited. The northern boundary
of this Sanctuary follows the 40°S parallel of latitude
except in the Indian Ocean sector where it joins the
southern boundary of that sanctuary at 55°S, and around
South America and into the South Pacific where the boundary
is at 60°S. This prohibition will be reviewed ten years
after its initial adoption and at succeeding ten year
intervals, and could be revised at such times by the
IWC.
At the 54th meeting in 2002 the Scientific
Committee established a Working Group to review
existing IWC sanctuaries and sanctuary proposals and
carried out a review of the Indian Ocean Sanctuary.
A Committee Steering Group was established and
produced a list of evaluation criteria to facilitate
the review (JCRM 2003, Appendix 3, pp. 418-419). After extensive discussions within the Committee
there was little consensus in the overall evaluation
of the sanctuary regarding its objectives, aside
from agreement that since its establishment, whales
have been protected from commercial whaling within
its boundaries. Subsequently, the Commission agreed
to continue the prohibition but did not discuss
whether or not it should set a time when the
Sanctuary should be reviewed again.
The Southern Ocean Sanctuary is due for review at
the 2004 meeting.
Two additional proposals for the establishment of
sanctuaries in the South Atlantic and South Pacific
have been submitted to the Commission for a number
of years. To date, both have failed to achieve the
three-quarters majority of votes needed to change
the Schedule and become designated IWC Sanctuaries.
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