Senator John Kerry Introduces Legislation to Protect Whales

[karynnj]

Source: PR-Newswire

Further demonstrating his commitment towards environmental conservation, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) today introduced legislation aimed at protecting whales. The International Whale Conservation and Protection Act of 2010 addresses major threats to whales including commercial whaling, ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, ocean noise, and climate change and reasserts the U.S. as a leader in whale conservation.

"Whales are in a sea of trouble, and we must do all we can to mitigate threats to the species and its habitat," said Jeff Flocken, IFAW DC Office Director. "We applaud Senator Kerry's leadership in championing this legislation and hope his colleagues follow suit."

Elements of the legislation include:

* Promoting international efforts to conserve and protect the world's whales throughout their range.
* Strengthening the whale conservation and protection efforts of relevant international organizations including the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and the International Maritime Organization.
* Ensuring that the IWC commercial whaling ban is neither lifted nor weakened and that the related illegal and lethal scientific whaling is ended.
* Reducing and, where possible, eliminating sources of human-caused death, injury, harassment and disturbance of the world's whales.
* Initiating and expanding research to improve our understanding of the world's whales including health and reproduction, whale habitats and the impacts of human activities and other threats to whales.


"Thousands of whales die each year from commercial whaling, ship strikes, and habitat disruption," said Senator Kerry. "We should be leading the effort to protect them."

Read more: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/senator-john-kerry-introduces-legislation-to-protect-whales-87650627.html

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Save the whales!

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. He forgets that the US is also a whaling nation

[karynnj]

3. I doubt that - he comes from a (former ?) whaling area

and he has always been an environmentalist.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Regardless, the US allows certain groups to whale

[karynnj]

6. I know little about this but does it have something to do with teh definition of

commercial whaling ban? Goggling to find more information, it seems that Japan has a program that was in concept uok under the ban, but the article was implying it wasn't. It seems countries are split on whether they want to end the ban.

On this, I have no knowledge of the issues.

[sandrakae]

8. Use spell check for God sake.

[karynnj]

12. You mean for "God's sake"??

Rather bad tempered today, aren't you?

I usually never correct the grammar or spelling of anyone one else, but you asked for it.

[sandrakae]

15. No. I mean for God sake.

[karynnj]

16. Clearly not the preferred usage

[Larkspur]

7. Those groups are Inuits and some Native American tribes

The Inuits only take what they and their tribe will consume. But the United States does not have a commercial whaling industry. Japan and some Scandinavian countries do.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. Which is to say the US is still a whaling nation

Its a binary thing. And like Japan, its allowed under the IWC. I realize there are dramatic differences in the scale. If what was cited in the OP is correct, I am not sure that Kerry has a clue.

[karynnj]

11. Why would he then modify "whaling ban" with commercial

Kerry was on the fisheries subcommittee of the commerce committee for years - I doubt he or his staff is clueless.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Then the PR writers are...which of course reflects on him

[karynnj]

14. Why does what they write reflect on the Senator?

Here is the Senator's statement:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and lead author of the Senate’s global climate change and environmental legislation, today will introduce legislation to advance whale preservation worldwide.

The International Whale Conservation and Protection Act of 2010 will combat the major threats whales face, including commercial whaling, ship strikes, and habitat disruption.

“Thousands of whales die each year from commercial whaling, ship strikes, and habitat disruption,” said Senator John Kerry. “We should be leading the effort to protect them.”

The International Whale Conservation and Protection Act of 2010 will:

* promote international protection efforts in whales’ natural habitats;

* strengthen international organizations’ efforts, including the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and the International Maritime Organization;

* ensure the IWC commercial whaling ban is protected;

* reduce or eliminate human-caused injury, harassment, or disturbance; and

* expand research to improve global understanding of whales including health and reproduction, whale habitats and the impacts of human activities and other threats to whales.

http://kerry.senate.gov/cfm/record.cfm?id=323076

(It looks better on his site.)

[politicasista]

24. Probably mad their favorite liberal progressive hasn't been out in front

on this issue.

Not a fan of whales, but hopefully some more environmental issues (i.e. green jobs, going green) will be on the table.

[Jennicut]

19. The US does not allow commerical whaling, which is what Kerry was partly addressing.

"The moratorium applies only to commercial whaling, whaling under the scientific-research and aboriginal-subsistence provisions of the ICRW is still allowed."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Whaling_Commission


In the United States, whaling is carried out by nine different indigenous Alaskan communities. The whaling program is managed by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission which reports to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The hunt takes around 50 bowhead whales a year from a population of about 10,500 in Alaskan waters. Conservationists fear this hunt is not sustainable, though the IWC Scientific Committee, the same group that provided the above population estimate, projects a population growth of 3.2% per year. The hunt also took an average of one or two gray whales each year until 1996. The quota was reduced to zero in that year due to sustainability concerns. A future review may result in the gray whale hunt being resumed. Bowhead whales weigh approximately 5-10 times as much as minke whales.

The Makah tribe in Washington State also reinstated whaling in 1999, despite protests from animal rights groups. They are currently seeking to resume whaling of the gray whale, a right recognized in the Treaty of Neah Bay.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling

[Larkspur]

20. The US is not a commercial whaling nation

To equate subsitance hunting with the millions the Japanese whalers make selling whale meat is absurd.

In the US, other than the approved tribes, it is illegal to sell whale meat for consumption.

[No Elephants]

22. Is your point that Kerry should not seek to protect whales?

[onenote]

2. Kudos to Senator Kerry

(and apologies to the OP -- I tried to hit recommend and accidentally hit unrec -- hopefully others will make up for my fuckup).

[Hawkeye-X]

4. Go and sin no more.

I rec'ed it for you :)

[Cell Whitman]

9. Whale meat sold at California sushi restaurant

http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/03/12/whale-meat-sold-at-california-sushi-restaurant/

[onestepforward]

17. Thanks John Kerry! n/t

[LiberalFighter]

18. Nuke all the fake Japanese scientific research whaling ships.

Stuff all the fake researchers in suitcases and drop them in the middle of the ocean.

Make them all take Viagra and use it for fishing.

[depakid]

26. Eventually- and not that far down the line, gunboat diplomacy will be required

in order to protect many of the world's fisheries from collapse.

[Thothmes]

32. So genocide is acceptable to protect

whales.

[MBS]

21. bravo, Senator Kerry n/t

[dannynicki]

23. Take some action

Let's face it- with health care reform on the table and a struggling economy, saving whales will not be at the top of most legislators' agendas. We need to make sure that the US government sees that the American people, as a whole, care about whale conservation. If you want to take action, add your photo to this campaign- www.ifaw.org/tailsforwhales. These photos will be used to show the US government and governments around the world that whales should be conserved and not killed.

[Duppers]

25. oops. your link didn't work

please post corrected one. thanks.

[dannynicki]

28. www.tailsforwhales.org

Hmmm....that's odd. It was working yesterday. Try www.tailsforwhales.org Thanks!

[Duppers]

31. great!

thanks.

[FreeJG]

27. So this is Kerry's steak in the debate? On any issue of substance?

Come on.....Kerry is clammed up....why???????

[karynnj]

29. Kerry has been involved on many issues of substance - including every foreign policy issue

He is also leading the climate change work against incredible odds. He was involved in teh jobs bill and healthcare.

This involves an international treaty and he is chair of the SFRC and he is the leading environmentalist in the Senate.

[politicasista]

30. Hope he can get some support on this issue

Because it's a "Who Cares?" when it comes to the AA community and some Democrats. Jeff Johnson from BET talked about this a couple of months ago and the need to raise awareness for this issue.