Brazilian Whale Sanctuary

The Marine Connection is delighted to report that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recently signed a federal decree establishing the Brazilian whale and dolphin sanctuary, reinforcing protection for all cetacean species in Brazilian jurisdictional waters.

Brazilian waters stretch along the nation's 8,000 km long coastline on the east and northeast coast of South America. In September 2008, Chile enacted a law declaring Chilean jurisdictional waters to be a whale sanctuary, protecting the cetaceans all along its 5,500 km long shoreline on the west coast of South America.

Currently, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) is attempting to settle a long dispute between whaling and non-whaling countries which encompasses issues such as coastal quotas for traditional communities, the scientific whaling loophole, and the establishment of sanctuaries. Brazil is engaged in the negotiation to ensure that whalewatching is recognised as a legitimate whale management option and that large areas are set aside exclusively for this type of non-lethal use. The Brazilian whale sanctuary decree also provides for the promotion of non-lethal uses and for cooperation with neighbouring countries to develop regional initiatives for the conservation of cetaceans.

At IWC meetings over the past five years, South American countries including Brazil have repeatedly failed in their bids to establish a whale sanctuary in the southern Atlantic Ocean from the east coast of South America to the west coast of Africa so this initiative sends a clear and powerful message to the international community in relation to Brazil's commitment towards whale conservation.