The Whale Advantage
Whales are accused of anything and everything. They reap the ocean’s harvest of fish, they represent a deadly risk for sailing race boats, in the same way they were accused last century of attacking Ocean liners. “The Initiative of Berlin” signed by eighteen member countries (*) during its 55th pleniary meeting seeks to reverse current trends.
It seeks the implementation within the commission of a committee for the protection of whales which would coordinate and complement the existing Scientific Committee. The official role of this new structure would be in conformity with the 1946 founding text of the Convention which calls “In the interests of all countries worldwide to safeguard the large natural resources represented by whales’ populations for the next generation”.
