NZ Conservation research
Table 1: Current New Zealand Government Funded Research Projects Related
to Cetacean Conservation
NZ Legal protection
The core legal framework in New Zealand for the protection of cetaceans includes the following:
• The Marine Mammals Protection Act 1978 (this provides for the full protection of cetaceans in New Zealand as well as the compulsory reporting of any capture of marine mammals).
• The Marine Mammals Protection Regulations 1992 (this prescribes the behaviour of persons, vessels, aircraft and vehicles in the vicinity of marine mammals).
Australia - Current threats to cetacean conservation and management measures taken/proposed
Australia has an excellent response capacity to assist individuals and groups of whales in distress, in cases where assistance is physically and logistically possible.
Australia Research Projects
The AMMC hosts the National Marine Mammal Data Portal. This portal collates and protects data that facilitates data-driven management and conservation decisions, as well as assisting with reporting obligations to the IWC. The AMMC also leads Australia's scientific commitment to the Commission’s Southern Ocean Research Partnership (IWC-SORP).
SC68B, IWC Annual Scientific Committee Meeting
Annual IWC Scientific Committee Meeting Virtual Meeting - May 2020 Documents SC Report 2020
Joint CC-SC Working Group Meeting and Conservation Committee Planning Group
Joint CC-SC Meeting
The Working Group was established through IWC Resolution 2014-4 to facilitate the implementation and follow-up of conservation recommendations. The Joint CC-SC meeting will be held virtually on 11 July 2022 at 15:00-17:00 London time (GMT+1). A draft agenda for this meeting is attached and we invite comments by Friday 1 July. Any queries on this should be directed to the Secretariat.
UK Marine Protected Areas for cetaceans
The following MPAs are in place within UK waters and specifically name cetaceans as a qualifying feature.
Brazil cetacean conservation
The National Stranding Network coordinated by ICMBio has been working along the Brazilian coast to evaluate cetacean stranding rates and cumulative effects of anthropogenic activities on these animals. A national database was developed to store the collected information providing the possibility to integrate data (in terms of space and time) and improve the evaluation of threats, as well as support both conservation planning and management actions.
Brazil Protected Areas
The government of Brazil established two large Federal Marine Protected Areas in 2018, including the two most remote islands of the national territory - the São Pedro and São Paulo archipelagos - and also the chain of submarine mountains that connects the Brazilian continental shelf to the Trindade and Martin Vaz Archipelago.