RESOLUTION 2024-3 RESOLUTION ON RESPONSIBILITIES RELATED TO COMMERCIAL WHALING ACTIVITIES RECALLING the obligation set under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to cooperate with a view to the conservation of marine mammals and in the case of cetaceans in particular work through the appropriate international organisations for their conservation, management and study1; RECALLING that the International Whaling Commission (IWC), established by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), is the appropriate international organisation for the conservation and management of whales; RECOGNISING the significant benefits the IWC provides to Contracting Governments as a global intergovernmental forum for cetacean conservation and management which brings together leading experts, scientific knowledge, practical conservation tools and training; NOTING that ICRW Schedule paragraph 10(e), which instituted a prohibition on killing whales for commercial purposes (the moratorium), has been in effect since the 1986 coastal and the 1985/86 pelagic season; NOTING that some Contracting Governments continue to conduct commercial whaling under objection or reservation to ICRW Schedule paragraph 10(e), and non-Contracting Governments also conduct commercial whaling within their Exclusive Economic Zone; NOTING that such whaling has been conducted under national catch limits that were calculated using tuning levels for the Revised Management Procedure’s (RMP) Catch Limit Algorithm that are less conservative than the tuning level accepted by the IWC and used by the Scientific Committee2; CONCERNED with the resumption of commercial whaling of fin whales in the North Pacific, a species which is classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the population structure and movements/mixing of fin whales in the North Pacific is poorly understood and there are no available peer-reviewed abundance estimates. Given these data gaps there is a possibility that commercial hunting could result in localised depletion3; AWARE that the recent and significant expansion of commercial whaling activity by non-Contracting Governments occurred without prior notification to the IWC; CONCERNED that marine ecosystems are subject to increasing and cumulative threats from inter alia climate change, commercial fishing activities, habitat degradation, shipping, bycatch, expanding offshore industries, marine debris, ocean noise and chemical pollution, which impact directly and indirectly on cetacean populations and their prey; EMPHASISING Resolutions 2016-3 and 2018-2 on Cetaceans and Their Contributions to Ecosystem Functioning, recognising the need to include consideration of the significant contributions made by .................................................. 1 Under Articles 65 and 120 2 Resolution 1994-5 on the Revised Management Scheme 3 Report from the external Panel requested to review the proposal from Japanese scientists for catch limits of fin whales for Japanese commercial whaling. 08.11.23. cetaceans to marine ecosystem functioning in conservation, management strategies and decision making. NOW THEREFORE, THE COMMISSION: REMINDS all ICRW contracting and non-contracting governments of their applicable legal obligations under UNCLOS to cooperate with the IWC on the conservation, management and study of cetaceans; STRONGLY ENCOURAGES all ICRW contracting and non-contracting governments to report all activities regarding commercial whaling including by submitting their whaling catch limit calculations for review by the IWC Scientific Committee at least every six years, and always prior to targeting different species, populations or areas; ACKNOWLEDGES that the moratorium on commercial whaling continues to be necessary to enable whale populations to fully recover, and to support the proper functioning of marine ecosystems; SUPPORTS the continuation of the moratorium, not least as a precautionary response to the growing threats to cetaceans from direct and indirect human activities.