Further written evidence submitted by Professor David Lusseau, Professor of Marine Sustainability, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark (MM0024)

Q39: Details of the countries/territories taking cetaceans from the sea for purposes other than aboriginal subsistence whaling

Response (David Lusseau):

Here I list countries where cetacean takes, other than incidental catches in fisheries or aboriginal subsistence whaling, have been reported. I also do not include countries where persecution/control of cetaceans takes place, and the killed animals are not taken from the sea.

Note though that these categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, incidental catches of cetaceans can be sold and consumed, or used as bait, in some countries. It is currently difficult to disentangle the food security and economic incentives of incidental catches in this context, blurring the line between incidental catches and direct takes. We do know that this is a problem for a larger number of countries than those listed below and that the practice is growing in multiple regions of the world. Persecution can also lead to the killed animals being taken from the sea.

Note also that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) category “aboriginal subsistence whaling” (ASW) is only defined for “great whales” and member nations. It does not extend to what IWC defines as ‘small cetaceans’ (all toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises except for the sperm whale). That is because IWC's purview is not interpreted as extending to small cetacean hunts. Member nations have not agreed on the extension of IWC’s remit to these species. I therefore apply here ASW stricto sensu, and therefore include in the list of countries below those with small cetacean hunts, which could be however understood to be in the spirit of the ASW definition.

Finally, these hunts can serve multiple purposes as animals may be killed for consumption, to use as bait, or for medicinal purposes, and they can be traded alive for display in aquaria. Given the lack of international coordination to understand the fate of hunted small cetaceans, it can be difficult to ascertain the destination of hunted dolphins in different countries.

This list is compiled from catch statistics information reported by the International Whaling Commission and the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission at the country level and from the description of reported threats for cetacean species in the IUCN Red List.

List of countries where cetaceans are taken from the sea for purposes other than aboriginal subsistence whaling of large whales (as defined by IWC). Note this includes countries where small cetaceans are taken in what could constitute to be in the spirit of ASW. There is however no current consensus definition of ASW for small cetaceans.

Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Faroe Islands, Ghana, Greenland, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Madagascar, Malaysia, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Russian Federation, Senegal, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Taiwan, USA, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

Catch statistics

I detail below reported catches of cetaceans from two inter-governmental organisations: the International Whaling Commission and the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission. I provide the link to the catch statistics reports for each section. I invite the EFRA Committee to discuss more detailed information about these statistics with representatives of these IGOs. Unfortunately, we still lack a systematic overview of most “small cetaceans” catches and therefore most countries listed above will not appear in catch statistics below.

Part I –International Whaling Commission catch statistics

I provide here the most recent summary catch statistics (2021) compiled by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) along with the url link where the data is publicly available. They are separated in four categories: i) aboriginal subsistence catches, ii) special permit catches, iii) commercial catches taken under objection of the zero catch limits, and iv) additional catches.

It is to be noted that IWC does not regulate ‘small cetacean’ hunting, that is the catches of cetacean species which are not the ‘great whales’ (therefore excluding all toothed whales and dolphins except for the sperm whale). Statistics on those catches are therefore much harder to obtain at an international level. I report below (v), voluntary reports from nations collated by the small-cetacean subcommittee of the IWC Scientific Committee.

i)      Aboriginal subsistence catches 2021 (https://iwc.int/table_aboriginal)

ii)    Special permit catches 2021 (https://iwc.int/table_permit)

There were no special permit catches in 2021

iii)  Commercial catches 2021 (https://iwc.int/table_objection)

iv)  Additional known catches (https://iwc.int/management-and-conservation/whaling/total-catches)

• Canada (NE Canada): 2 Bowhead whales (non-commercial catches by a nation which is not member of the IWC
• Korea: 12 Minke whales (catches by an IWC member nation reported to the Infraction Committee)
• Indonesia: estimated 18 Sperm whales (based on an average of 2016-2018 reports), unconfirmed report of catches by a nation which is not a member of IWC.

v)    Voluntary report of ‘small cetacean’ takes

This data is presented in Annex J of the 2021 IWC Scientific Committee Report which can be downloaded from the IWC archives: https://archive.iwc.int/pages/home.php. The data was compiled by the IWC Secretariat. Note the latest information is for 2019 and is not exhaustive (only one country reporting) as the reporting is voluntary.

Japan (2019): 47 Baird’s beaked whales, 78 short-finned pilot whales, 191 Risso’s dolphins, 1 false killer whale, 343 striped dolphins, 157 bottlenose dolphins, 18 pantropical spotted dolphins, 8 Pacific white-sided dolphins, 826 Dall’s porpoises, 15 rough-toothed dolphins, 203 melon-headed whales.

Part II- North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission catch statistics

Catch statistics are available at https://nammco.no/catch-database/. I report here these cetacean catch statistics available for 2021 at the country level, some species and country overlap with IWC catch statistics (the same catches are reported to IWC and NAMMCO).

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