× Information on this section of ECOLEX comes from the InforMEA Portal which compiled information from MEA Secretariats with the support of the European Union. The accuracy of the information displayed is the responsibility of the originating data source. In case of discrepancy the information as displayed on the respective MEA website prevails. Resolution on Whaling of highly endangered Bowhead Whales in the Eastern Canadian Arctic Document type Resolution Reference number 2000-2 Date Jul 3, 2000 SourceUNEP, InforMEA Status Adopted Subject Wild species & ecosystems, Sea Treaty International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (Dec 2, 1946) Meeting 52nd Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC52) Website crm.iwc.int Abstract IWC Resolution 2000-2 Resolution on Whaling of highly endangered Bowhead Whales in the Eastern Canadian Arctic WHEREAS the 52nd meeting of the Scientific Committee concluded that the Davis Strait and the Hudson Bay- Foxe Basin bowhead whale stocks are two distinct and separate populations, both of which number in the low hundreds; CONSIDERING THAT the Government of Canada withdrew from the IWC in 1982 but continues to allow the taking of bowhead whales in the Eastern Canadian Arctic; CONCERNED THAT the Government of Canada has agreed to grant one license if requested from the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board to take one bowhead whale from the Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin stock in 2000-2001; WHEREAS the IWC is concerned about whaling not conducted under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (1946); NOTING THAT the Government of Canada has been notified of IWC Resolutions 1996-9, 1998-13 and 1999-7, each of which calls for refraining from issuing permits to hunt either highly endangered bowhead whale stocks in the Eastern Canadian Arctic; FURTHER NOTING THAT Canada is signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) which under Article 65 (Marine Mammals) requires that States co-operate through the appropriate international organizations for the conservation, management and study of cetaceans; NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION: REAFFIRMS its opposition to whaling conducted on highly endangered stocks of whales; EXPRESSES particular concern that whaling activities in the Eastern Canadian Arctic are ongoing outside the control of the IWC; URGES the Government of Canada to refrain from issuing a license for the taking of one bowhead whale from the Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin population; INVITES the Government of Canada to rejoin the IWC and, in the meantime, not to issue further whaling permits; REQUESTS THAT the Secretariat transmit the text of this Resolution to the Government of Canada.