Quito CMS CoP 3 - Big Fish Wednesday Part 2

Nicola Hodgins and Alison Wood of WDC

'Big fish Wednesday' turns into 'Cetacean Conservation Captivity and Culture (CCC)  Wednesday' when the ground-breaking cetacean resolutions arrive.

Suddenly we find ourselves in the middle of the debate on the cetacean proposals in the CoW. The excitement is such that I fail to follow the debate fully as I am trying to think of something deeply meaningful to say having realised this is probably the only opportunity to speak out publicly at the CoP for these two proposals.

We start with ‘Live Captures of Cetaceans from the Wild for Commercial Purposes’

The resolution is in the process of being worked on by the marine working group under Barry Baker (member of the CMS Science Council)  and it operative part does the following:

Call on Parties that have not already done so to develop and implement national legislation prohibiting the live capture of cetaceans from  the wild and 

Urges parties to prohibit imports and international transit of lice cetaceans;

Monaco (the proponent) - Introduces the Resolution (UNEP/CMS/COP11/Doc.23.2.3) noting the importance of it and requested full support from the CoP.

EU - The EU remain deeply concerned about live captures of cetaceans and supports the resolution subject to some 'minor changes'.

Chile - fully supports the resolution on the behalf of the Latin and Caribbean nations

Ecuador adds that it has had 10 years of tourism on cetaceans off their coasts that brings in some. US$60 million and creates social and cultural development, They fully support the non-lethal use of cetaceans as it is more effective than capture for commercial purposes.

Egypt - Thanks Monaco for bringing this important resolution to the CoP and fully supports and endorses the resolution. Noted that wild populations of whales and dolphins endure enough suffering from human activities and during capture for commercial purposes they suffer hugely and the risks are uncertain. Eco-tourism brings great benefits for both dolphins and humans. They reiterate their support for this hugely important resolution.

WDC - Whale and Dolphin Conservation says that they would like to thank Monaco for bringing this ground-breaking and important resolution to the CoP and would encourage all Parties to support it.

 And here is what I said for HSI:

HSI thanks Monaco too for bringing this important proposal forward. Cetaceans in the 21^st century face a range of complex threats and this is certainly one that we can help to address. We would encourage parties to support the proposal and also to bring it forward in an effective form for adoption. Removals from the wild cause great suffering to both those removed and those in their social units left behind.  

The Chair notes that the matter is still in discussion in the working group.

Heidi of ASCOBANS (and the CMS Secretariat) and Florence of ACCOBAMS

 We move on to Agenda 23.2.4 Conservation implications of cetacean culture.

CMS Secretariat - Introduced the Resolution noting the background (Res. 10.15/Expert Workshop) and gave a presentation on what is culture.

Monaco - Believes that this work represents a new stage in the concept of conservation and is a big deal. They are proud that this was happening within this convention and believed that this work should be applauded by all delegations.

Chile - Very grateful for this work and note the full support of all 10 Latin American countries as it is in line with their commitments through the Buenos Aires Group.

EU - They noted the growing relationship between this science and conservation and note how culture has not previously been taken into account in conservation measures. They noted the pioneering work done by the AMWG through the workshop and subject to a few minor changes, welcomes this resolution.

NZ - Were supportive in general of this work and thanked both the AMWG and the cetaceans themselves for bringing this to the attention of the CoP. Believe it is important for those working on other groups of animals to be involved as we should be looking to consider and take into account culture for all species.

Redoubtable Heidrun Frisch presents the resolution , noting the workshop that preceded it and that the loss of migratory cultural memory and habitat knowledge can have devastating implications for populations of socially  complex migratory species. She provides some supporting images, including of a group of orcas rushing an iceflow on which lies a hapless seal.

The primary things that this resolution does is that it:

·         Encourages Parties to  consider culturally transmitted behaviours when determining conservation measures including assessing anthropogenic threats on the basis of evidence of interactions of those threats with social structure and culture;

·         Urges Parties to apply a precautionary approach to the management of populations for which there is evidence that influence of culture and social complexity may be a conservation issue; and it

·         Requests the Scientific Council to establish an intersessional expert working group dealing with the conservation implications of culture and social complexity, with a focus on, but not limited to cetaceans;

Monaco - Believes that this work represents a new stage in the concept of conservation They are proud that this was happening within this convention and believed that this work should be applauded by all delegations.

Chile is very grateful for this work and notes the full support of all 10 Latin American countries as it is in line with their commitments through the Buenos Aires Group.

EU - They noted the growing relationship between this science and conservation and note how culture has not previously been taken into account in conservation measures. They noted the pioneering work done by the AMWG through the workshop and subject to a few 'minor changes', welcomes this resolution.

NZ - Were supportive in general of this work and thanked both the AMWG and the cetaceans themselves for bringing this to the attention of the CoP. Believe it is important for those working on other groups of animals to be involved as we should be looking to consider and take into account culture for all species

WDC - Whale and Dolphin Conservation 'would like to thanks the Secretariat for an informative presentation and welcomes this work that reflects the growing scientific consensus and emerging evidence. For conservation purposes the unit to conserve has traditionally been defined on a genetic basis, typically starting at the species-level but increasingly including genetically-distinct sub-units or populations. The identification of distinctive ‘cultural units’ within species provides both a new opportunity and a new challenge to conservation and CMS has initiated work to carefully review this matter. It has become clear that social structure and the transmission of information within social groups are relevant for conservation efforts. Existing conservation approaches may miss some important aspects of social complexity relevant to survival, including the ability to respond to anthropogenic threats. The underlying message is that for socially complex species the current conservation approach may be significantly improved by considering ‘cultural units’. A more sophisticated analysis of these aspects of a species’ life history may enable us to undertake more efficient conservation management'.
:
HSI adds "Speaking as a cetacean biologist, it makes perfect solid scientific sense to integrate the social biology and culture of cetaceans into efforts to conserve them. In fact, if we do not do so, this will surely mean that we will not be as effective as we should be. So we encourage Parties to support this initiative and note the letter in support sent to the CoP from two of the world’s leading experts – Professor’s Whitehead and Redell –which parties may like to take into account". 

This letter can be seen in full here
And here is an excerpt:

"We have begun to understand how the fact that some individuals in a population are more knowledgeable than others, or have specific social roles, means that not all deaths are equal within a small cetacean population, since the loss of these individuals and their knowledge can have disproportionately large impacts on those left  behind.We can understand certain behaviours that appear suddenly not as some new response to an unseen threat but as ephemeral fads, resulting from rapid cultural transmission rather than the expression of a previously unknown instinct. We are starting to understand how cultural  transmission can sometimes increase the behavioural flexibility, and by implication the resilience, of populations faced with new human activities, but also how cultural conservatism can produce adverse effects, such as reluctance to re-occupy habitat. New research has broadened the spatial scales at which we see cetacean culture operating. Cetacean cultures typically operate across national boundaries, and that of the blue whales is global.....We strongly believe there is now sufficient scientific consensus that the time has come for major international conservation bodies to take this new  science on board in developing effectiveconservation strategies, and so we whole-heartedly endorse the proposed resolution.."

Back to the CoW....

Noting the widespread support, the Chair comments that work on this document will continue in the Aquatic Working Group.

A little later we wonder off into that very same working group. More to follow. 

Heidrun Frish and Barry Baker consult

For an excellent article about cetacean culture and reference to a new book on the same please see Philippa Brakes' latest on Huffington Post here.