Case Study - Network for Business Sustainability

Engaging the Community: A Knowledge Project
by the operators. They are visible on the water and act as an enforcement body. One operator
explained:
“We are now going to be getting a monthly report. We will have access so we can determine the
number of incidents that month. I think there should be someone, if not our President, asking
why this company has six incidents. Is there a problem?”
Soundwatch is an avenue for data collection even though it was not originally designed for this purpose.
However, tour operators see it as serving a purpose for scientists, management, and government.
Operators now have a trend of number of infringements of their own guidelines, and they value that.
From Soundwatch data, operators know that they are outside their guidelines less than .05% of the
time. Operators also feel that there is pressure to conform. One operator told of his experiences:
“There are lots of us and we don’t tolerate it, if someone does something *wrong+. Pretty soon there
will be a big zodiac right up beside you …and we’ll pass the federal guidelines to them on board …and
explain that this is how we make our living and to be respectful.”
Operators, for the most part, are wary of government regulation of the whale watching industry. Their
concerns include the government’s inadequate experience with whale watching and lack of knowledge
about the behaviour and biology of whales, the possibility of unjust or arbitrary enforcement and the
prospect of high costs for licensing. In spite of this, they feel that the industry needs to have a more
effective way to deal with repeat offenders who ignore the guidelines. For example:
“Repeat violators need some type of penalty …there needs to be some type of system for
reprimand whether that’s within the whale watch operator’s association or guidelines become
federal law in both countries. It also requires an enforcement agent from either government...a
ticket for repeated violations.
If the government has a role to play, the operators would like to see the DFO to be more visible and
enforce compliance. There needs to be a body with teeth to prosecute; that being the DFO. One tour
operator suggested that “They just need to be out on the water more often. Their role should basically
be for policing. The DFO should step in and prosecute not just stand on shore and take a picture and
then prosecute.”
Tour operators also feel that the whale watching association should be invited to participate in decision
making about whale watching activities. An effective management plan with regulated guidelines should
reflect their experience and expertise based on two decades of self-regulated practices. One operator
explained:
“I think that we have been influencing government. We are the ones that continue to modify
our guidelines. We are out there setting an example….We feel that we are under attack a lot of
times but in reality…our guidelines have held together and continue to evolve.”
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