Concluding my segment on the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary (SAWS) schedule amendment, I will present the final decision made today at the plenary session.
Previous posts on SAWS:
The SAWS IWC65/08 Schedule Amendment proposed by Brazil, in hopes of creating a whale sanctuary in the south Atlantic Ocean, did not achieve consensus after deliberations. Brazil decided to push it to a vote, which would require a 3/4 majority to pass.
Regretfully, the schedule amendment failed to pass, short by 4 votes (full voting results are at the end of this post).
Guinea explained why they voted no, stating that because the Scientific Committee has not specifically included the sanctuary in their recommendations, and because it would prevent scientific whaling in those waters, they therefore could not support the schedule amendment.
Monaco deplores the outcome of the vote and the failure to yet again pass the schedule amendment, despite 13 years of effort by Brazil and all corresponding countries. Monaco reminds those countries concerned with food security that their fisheries would be helped by the creation of this sanctuary.
Brazil concluded that it will continue to work on this issue and encourages the Scientific Committee to support this schedule amendment in their recommendations and conclusions on sanctuaries, which are due in 2015.
Schedule Amendment to Establish a South Atlantic Sanctuary
