Whale Sanctuary Call In Advance Of 2008 IWC Congress

Representatives from 15 Latin American non-governmental organizations specializing in cetacean research called last week upon Chileus parliament to protect whales against commercial and scientific hunting by creating a Whale Sanctuary in Chilean waters. The group asked the Senateus Environmental Commission to support a draft agreement seeking a uA…aˆ?Presidential Declaration confirming and proclaiming the territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEE) of the Republic of Chile as a Whale SanctuaryuA‚A? before the 60th Annual International Whaling Commission (IWC) Meeting next year. This whale sanctuary must completely prohibit uA…aˆ?commercial and scientific hunting operations in order to assure the conservation of the diverse cetacean species found in the waters of our country,uA‚A? says the agreement. Chileus Senate has approved similar draft agreements in the past. In 2006, senators approved the necessity to grant more priority to the preservation of whales and their ecosystems as a part of Chileus foreign policy, and in 2007 the Senate acknowledged the necessity of a national conservation policy and non-lethal use of cetaceans...