International Whaling Commission (IWC)

• It was set up under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) which was signed in Washington DC in 1946.
• Objective: To provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry.
• Headquarter: Impington, near Cambridge, England.
• In 1982 the IWC adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling (Whale Hunting).
• However, it allows non-zero whaling quotas for aboriginal subsistence, and also member nations may issue ‘Scientifi c Permits’ to their citizens.
• Also, there are limits to its authority as it’s a voluntary international organization not backed up by treaty.

Whale Sanctuary

• In 1994, it created the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary surrounding the continent of Antarctica. Here, the IWC has banned all types of commercial whaling.
• Only two such sanctuaries have been designated by IWC till date. Another is Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary by the tiny island nation of the Seychelles.

In News:

Japan has resumed commercial whale hunting after a hiatus of more than 30 years, defying calls from conservation groups to protect animals once hunted to the brink of extinction.