India Reaffirms Commitment to Conservation of Whales and Other Cetaceans at IWC-70 in Hobart, Australia

1. At a Glance

• On 28 Sep 2026, in its Opening Statement at IWC-70 (Hobart, Australia), India called for science-based, cooperative cetacean conservation [1].
• Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) link GS-II (international bodies) and GS-III (biodiversity, Wild Life (Protection) Act (WLPA), Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)) [1].
• The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is where two camps meet: countries that want whaling (Japan, Norway, Iceland) and countries that want protection. The debate is typical UPSC material on the ethics of the global commons [4].
• India's own flagship efforts are Project Dolphin and a focus on the Arabian Sea humpback whale [1].

2. Why in the News

• IWC-70 is being held in Hobart, Australia, 28.09.2026–02.10.2026 [1].
• It falls on the 80th anniversary of the signing of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) [1].
• In its Opening Statement, India stressed four points [1]:
• cooperation among range countries, scientific institutions and international organisations
• better data on population status, distribution, movements, breeding ecology and threats
• evidence-based management

• locally appropriate approaches that involve local communities

• Issuing ministry: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), PIB Delhi, Release ID 2316042 [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• 1931: Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, Geneva (League of Nations) [4].
• 1937: International Agreement for the Regulation of Whaling, London [4].
• 1944: Annual Antarctic catch limit of 16,000 Blue Whale Units (BWU). The ICRW kept this limit; the BWU was later criticised and abandoned [4].
• 2 Dec 1946: ICRW signed in Washington DC. It created the IWC [1][4].

• The Preamble has two aims: the "proper conservation of whale stocks" and the "orderly development of the whaling industry" [4].

• 1981: India joins the IWC [1].

• 1982: IWC adopts the Moratorium on commercial whaling ("zero quotas"). It took effect from the 1985–86 season [4].
• Schedule amendments later created the Indian Ocean Sanctuary and the Southern Ocean Sanctuary [4].
• 2008: IUCN moves the humpback whale from Vulnerable to Least Concern. Two subpopulations stay Endangered [5].
• 31 Mar 2014: In Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan; New Zealand intervening), the ICJ holds that JARPA II permits were not "for purposes of scientific research." Japan is ordered to withdraw its pending permits [4].
• Oct 2015: Japan changes its Optional Clause declaration so that the ICJ cannot hear living-marine-resource disputes. Nov 2015: Japan announces NEWREP-A (333 minke whales) [4].
• 2019: Japan leaves the IWC and restarts commercial whaling [6].
• 15 Aug 2020: Project Dolphin launched [3].
• Sep–Oct 2026: IWC-70, Hobart [1].

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact
Parent treaty	ICRW, Washington DC, 02.12.1946 [1][4]
Body	IWC, the global body for whaling management and whale conservation [1]
Membership	89 governments [1]
India's membership	Since 1981 [1]
Structure	The Convention plus a Schedule that is an integral part of it. The Schedule sets seasons, methods, size limits and inspection rules [4]
Amending the Schedule	Art. III(2), needs a ¾ majority of voting members [4]
Three types of whaling	Commercial (zero quota), aboriginal subsistence, and scientific [4]
Scientific whaling	Art. VIII. Permits are issued by national authorities and fall outside IWC regulation [4]
Scope	The Schedule lists only the "great whales." There is no generic definition of a whale; the narwhal probably falls outside [4]
Objectors to the moratorium	Norway and Iceland opted out and whale commercially [4]
Indian law	Cetaceans in Indian waters get the highest level of protection under the WLPA, 1972 [1]
Indian schemes	Project Dolphin (dolphins, whales, porpoises and their habitats) [1]. Humpback whale monitoring is funded under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS)–Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH) [2]
Funding (CSS–Development of Wildlife Habitats)	₹241.73 lakh (2022-23) and ₹248.18 lakh (2023-24) [3]
Long-term plan	Comprehensive Action Plan (2022–2047) [3]
Arabian Sea humpback whale	One of 25 species chosen for focused conservation [1]. A separately assessed, isolated, non-migratory population [5]

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Environmental

• The main threats are ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, habitat loss, prey decline and underwater noise (sonar, seismic surveys, shipping) [5].
• In 2008 about 25% of cetacean species were threatened and 44 species were Data Deficient [5]. This backs India's call for better scientific data [1].
• India has notified several MPAs covering whales, dolphins, dugongs, sharks, rays, turtles and corals [1].

Geopolitical / Strategic

• India belongs to the pro-conservation bloc, while Japan, Norway and Iceland favour whaling [4][6].
• India stresses "range countries" [1]. The Arabian Sea humpback's range crosses several national jurisdictions in the northern Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman [5], which makes regional cooperation (e.g., with Oman and Pakistan) necessary.

Legal

• The ICRW has competing aims: running an industry versus treating whales as a "general trust" for future generations [4].
• Art. VIII is a loophole. The ICJ's 2014 ruling tested it but did not close it [4].
• Domestically, WLPA protection is the highest available [1].

Scientific / Technological

• India wants decisions based on population status, movements and breeding ecology [1].
• Arabian Sea humpbacks have been genetically isolated for about 70,000 years and have low genetic diversity, which makes them vulnerable (IUCN-based finding) [5].

Ethical / Governance

• The conservationist view manages whales for eventual use; the preservationist view says whales should not be exploited at all. This split has left the IWC deadlocked [4].
• India's focus on local communities mirrors the participatory-conservation ethic [1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 28 Sep 2026: India's Opening Statement at IWC-70 in Hobart [1].
• 2026: IWC-70 marks 80 years of the ICRW [1].
• The PIB snippets also mention a Second Range-wide Estimation of Riverine and Estuarine Dolphins starting from Bijnor, but I could not verify its date.
• I found no other developments from the last 12–18 months that I could date. Treat this section as incomplete.

7. Prelims Hooks

• The ICRW was signed at Washington DC on 2 December 1946 [1][4].
• IWC-70 is at Hobart, Australia, 28 Sep–2 Oct 2026 [1].
• The IWC has 89 member governments [1].
• India has been an IWC member since 1981 [1].
• The commercial whaling moratorium was adopted in 1982 and took effect in 1985–86 [4].
• Scientific whaling comes under Article VIII of the ICRW; permits are issued by national governments [4].
• Amending the Schedule needs a three-fourths majority under Art. III(2) [4].
• Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan) was decided by the ICJ in 2014 against JARPA II [4].
• Norway and Iceland objected to the moratorium and still whale commercially [4].
• Japan left the IWC in 2019 [6].
• The humpback whale is Least Concern globally, but the Arabian Sea subpopulation is Endangered [5].
• The Arabian Sea humpback is a resident, non-migratory population, isolated for about 70,000 years [5].
• Project Dolphin was launched on 15 August 2020 and covers both riverine and marine cetaceans [1][3].
• The Indian Ocean Sanctuary was created by amending the IWC Schedule [4].

8. India's Real Cetacean Problem Is Fishing Nets, Not Whaling

• The IWC mostly deals with a threat India does not face
• The IWC Schedule covers only the "great whales" [4]. Its main tool, the catch limit, is about hunting.
• No one hunts whales commercially in Indian waters. The whales and dolphins here die in other ways.

• For the Arabian Sea humpback, the named threats are entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes [5].

• Bycatch is the biggest killer of small cetaceans

• Bycatch means animals caught by accident in nets set for fish.
• The UN World Ocean Assessment calls bycatch "the primary threat" to coastal and estuarine dolphins and porpoises [7].

• It names small-scale gillnet fishing (walls of net that hang in the water) as the problem to fix [7].

• So the IWC cannot solve India's biggest problem

• Most dolphins and porpoises in Indian waters are small cetaceans, which the Schedule does not cover [4].
• Their protection depends on Indian fisheries rules and the WLPA, not on IWC quotas.
• This is why India's statement talks about "locally appropriate" approaches and local communities [1]. The fix has to happen in Indian fishing villages, not in Hobart.

9. Why the IWC Cannot Stop a Country That Wants to Hunt

• A country can simply refuse a rule it dislikes
• Under the ICRW's objection procedure, a member that objects to a Schedule change in time is not bound by it [4].
• Norway and Iceland used this to stay outside the 1982 moratorium. They still hunt commercially [4].

• So even a ¾ majority vote [4] binds only those who agree to be bound.

• "Scientific" whaling is decided by the hunting country itself

• Under Art. VIII, national governments issue their own science permits. The IWC does not control them [4].

• Japan used this for decades. The ICJ ruled in 2014 that JARPA II was not really for science [4].

• When a court said no, Japan changed the rules around the court

• In Oct 2015 Japan changed its declaration so the ICJ could no longer hear marine-resource disputes against it [4].
• One month later it began a new programme, NEWREP-A, to take 333 minke whales [4].

• In 2019 it left the IWC and restarted commercial whaling [6].

• What this means for India's call for "cooperation"

• The IWC runs on consent. A country can object, issue its own permits, avoid the court, or leave.
• India's IWC-70 statement did not name any whaling country [1]. Calls for cooperation cost nothing, but they also change nothing for those who have already walked out.

10. The Whaling Nations' Best Argument, and Its Limits

• Their strongest point: some whale stocks have recovered
• In 2008 IUCN moved the humpback from Vulnerable to Least Concern [5].
• Whaling nations argue: if a stock is healthy, a careful, science-based catch is fair use of a resource.
• This is the conservationist view: protect whales so they can be used later [4].

• The ICRW itself supports this. Its Preamble speaks of the "orderly development of the whaling industry" [4].

• What is right about it

• A permanent ban for every stock, however healthy, is a moral choice (preservationist), not a scientific finding [4].

• India itself asks for "evidence-based" management [1]. Evidence could, one day, support a limited catch of a recovered stock.

• Why it still does not win

• The same global humpback now marked "Least Concern" hides two subpopulations that stay Endangered [5]. A species-level number can hide a local collapse.
• The Arabian Sea humpback shows this: it has low genetic diversity and has been isolated for about 70,000 years [5]. Losing a few animals matters far more here.
• The IWC's past "science" has been misused. The Blue Whale Unit was later abandoned [4], and the ICJ found JARPA II was not science [4].

• Data on distribution and numbers of marine mammals are still incomplete [7]. You cannot set a "safe" catch for a stock you have not counted.

• An honest answer in Mains: sustainable use is a fair principle, but it needs trustworthy counts and an independent referee. Today the IWC has neither firm data nor the power to enforce.

11. India Asks for Data It Has Not Yet Collected at Sea

• The gap is regional, not just global
• For the Bay of Bengal and its rivers, a lack of monitoring limits information on 23 cetacean species [7].

• These animals face fishing, habitat damage and pollution [7].

• India has started counting, but mostly in rivers

• The first river dolphin count estimated 6,327 dolphins across 28 rivers in eight states [9].
• The first satellite tag on a Ganges river dolphin came only on 18 Dec 2024, in Assam, led by the Wildlife Institute of India [8].

• None of the note's sources show a similar count for whales and dolphins in the open sea.

• The money is small for the job

• About ₹2.4 crore a year (₹241.73 lakh in 2022-23; ₹248.18 lakh in 2023-24) went to conservation work under CSS–Development of Wildlife Habitats [3].
• Tagging was funded separately by the National CAMPA Authority (the fund built from money paid for forest land diverted to projects) [8].

• So marine work depends on scattered pots of money, not one steady budget line.

• Why it matters: India's IWC call for better data [1] is strongest when India itself can show marine population numbers.

12. What India Can Do at Home and With Its Neighbours

• MoEFCC and coastal states: close key humpback areas to some nets, by season
• IUCN experts suggest closing critical habitat to certain types of fishing, at least seasonally [5].

• This targets gear entanglement, the named threat to the Arabian Sea humpback [5].

• Fisheries departments: build disentanglement teams

• IUCN experts also suggest programmes to cut free whales caught in nets [5].

• Train fishers themselves. The UN assessment says local communities are key to fixing gillnet deaths [7].

• Ports and shipping authorities: act on ship strikes

• For four large whale species, less than 10% of populations had any protection from ship collisions [7].

• Speed limits or route changes in known whale areas are the usual answer.

• MoEFCC: copy the river-dolphin model for the Arabian Sea

• India has already brought together experts from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar on river dolphins [10].
• The Arabian Sea humpback's range crosses several countries in the northern Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman [5].
• A similar expert group with range countries like Oman and Pakistan would turn India's "range countries" line at IWC-70 [1] into action.

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: Bycatch is "the primary threat" to coastal and estuarine dolphins and porpoises; monitoring gaps limit information on 23 cetacean species in the Bay of Bengal region [7]
• Data: First river dolphin estimate — 6,327 dolphins across 28 rivers in 8 states [9]
• Data: Less than 10% of populations of four large whale species had protection from ship strikes [7]
• Report/Committee: UN World Ocean Assessment, marine mammals chapter [7]
• Law/Case: Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan), ICJ 2014; ICRW Art. VIII and the objection procedure [4]
• Comparison: Japan — lost at the ICJ, cut the court out of such disputes in 2015, left the IWC in 2019 [4][6]
• Scheme: Project Dolphin — first Ganges river dolphin satellite tagging, Assam, Dec 2024, CAMPA-funded [8]

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, EIA; biodiversity.
• GS-II: Important international institutions, agencies and fora — their structure and mandate.
• GS-IV (optional angle): Environmental ethics; the rights of non-human animals versus cultural and economic claims.

Possible question stems:

1. Eight decades after the ICRW, the IWC remains torn between regulating an industry and protecting a species. Critically examine, with reference to India's position at IWC-70. (15 marks)
2. Discuss the threats to cetaceans in Indian waters and evaluate the adequacy of India's legal and programmatic response, including Project Dolphin. (10 marks)
3. The Arabian Sea humpback whale is a case for regional marine cooperation. Discuss. (10 marks)

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• Project Dolphin and the Ganges river dolphin (National Aquatic Animal): the domestic flagship for cetaceans.
• Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 (Schedules): tells you where cetaceans are now listed.
• CITES and CMS (Bonn Convention): the other treaties covering trade and migratory species of cetaceans.
• Marine Protected Areas of India (Gulf of Mannar, Gulf of Kachchh): habitat-based protection.
• Dugong Conservation Reserve (Palk Bay): a related marine mammal that often appears in the same questions.
• BBNJ (High Seas) Agreement: governing marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.
• Antarctic Treaty and CCAMLR: the context for the Southern Ocean Sanctuary and JARPA.
• IUCN Red List categories: needed for questions on status at species versus subpopulation level.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Signing year vs entry into force vs India's joining: signed 1946, India joined 1981, moratorium adopted 1982 and effective 1985–86. Do not mix these up [1][4].
• Humpback status: globally Least Concern, but the Arabian Sea subpopulation is Endangered. Questions may deliberately blur the two [5].
• Scientific whaling is legal under Art. VIII and is not banned by the moratorium. The ICJ struck down only JARPA II, not scientific whaling in general [4].
• Scope of the IWC: the Schedule covers "great whales" only. The IWC is not a UN specialised agency, and a 1946 proposal to put it under FAO oversight was rejected [4].
• Project Dolphin is not only about river dolphins. It covers marine dolphins, whales and porpoises too [1].
• WLPA Schedule: the release says only "highest level of protection" [1]. After the 2022 amendment this should mean Schedule I, but that is my inference, not a sourced fact. Check it on indiacode before relying on it.