leagal aspects of the whale watching.pdf - International Fund for ...

Canada
The objective laid down in its departmental guidelines on the recreational observation of marine mammals is:
To prevent harmful effects on the biological functions of marine mammals from recreational observation
activities conducted from ships, boats, aircraft, amphibious vehicles, snow vehicles, and any other means, in
or on the water, on the ice and from land.
New Zealand
The stated aim is that commercial whale watching operations should not have any adverse effects on the species
watched, and must positively address conservation, management, and protection.
6.4 Level of adoption: local, national, regional (multilateral), international (global)
It was agreed that the reference to "the regional level" did not include internal regional sub-divisions of states but
was directed to multilateral interstate groupings. However, reference to the national level would include any internal
units with competence to legislate or adopt guidelines, e.g. provincial states which had their own legislative
processes.
The advantages and disadvantages of adopting measures at these various levels were discussed. Although initiatives
could be taken at all levels, voluntary acceptance and enforcement may be enhanced by taking action at the local
level. However, adoption of more stringent or binding regulations should be encouraged at all levels, including State,
national, sub-national, city and regional levels through co-operation based on geographical proximity, as well as
multilateral relationships. It should be noted that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can also develop and
publish whale watching guidelines and have in fact done so: for example, the General Code of the Seawatch
Foundation in the U.K. and the voluntary rules established by some local whale watching promoters in Japan.
International bodies such as the IWC and regional bodies such as the Commissions established by the Agreements
on Conservation of Small Cetaceans in the Baltic and North Sea (ASCOBANS) and of the Black Sea, Mediterranean
Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS), and the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO)
established by the Agreement on Co-operation in Research, Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals in
the North Atlantic, could promulgate guidelines. The measures adopted at international and regional levels must
inter alia address possible jurisdictional conflicts such as the situations arising when whales cross maritime
jurisdictional boundaries between states. Development of harmonised legislation or guidelines could help to avoid or
resolve any conflicts that might arise in such situations.
At the domestic level it was noted that some countries have different internal jurisdictional competences. In
federated states, problems might arise concerning the legislative and administrative competence of different
departments. Similar problems can occur between different government departments in centralised administrations,
for example between fisheries and environment departments. In the UK, although whales and whaling were dealt
with for many years exclusively by the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, questions concerning whale
watching guidelines and their updating are now dealt with by the Department of the Environment, Transport and
the Regions, which has responsibility for nature protection, including wildlife and habitat. A recent version of these
guidelines is included in Section 9.
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