John Kerry: “As Ranking Member of the Oceans, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce, Science and…”

“As Ranking Member of the Oceans, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, I am pleased to join the Chair of the Subcommittee, Senator Snowe, in submitting a resolution regarding the policy of the United States at the upcoming 55th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission, IWC. The IWC was formed in 1946 under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, in recognition of the fact that whales are highly migratory and that international cooperation is necessary for their preservation. In 1982, due to the severe impacts of whaling on the populations of large whale species, the IWC agreed on an indefinite moratorium on all commercial whaling beginning in 1985. Whales are already under enormous pressure world wide from collisions with ships, entanglement in fishing gear, coastal pollution, noise emanating from surface vessels and other sources. The need to conserve and protect these magnificent mammals is clear.”