The 69^th meeting of the IWC opened today in Lima, Peru with Acting Chair, Dr Nick Gales of Australia, welcoming participants and thanking the Government of Peru for their very generous hosting.

Peru’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Peter Camino Cannock, also addressed delegates, highlighting the Peruvian government’s commitment to conservation and sustainable use of marine resources, and his country's deep connection to the ocean. Ambassador Cannock also underscored the importance of IWC’s role as a multi-national forum for issues related to whales, conservation and stewardship.

The highlight of Day One was the renewal of aboriginal subsistence whaling quotas. This marks successful implementation of a new process to automatically extend quotas in six year blocks if three conditions are met:

• the quotas do not change 
• the Scientific Committee advises that these quotas will not harm the whale stocks
• the Commission determines that the ASW governments have complied with the agreed timeline and the information provided represents a status quo continuation of the hunt.

This new approach was endorsed by the Commission in 2018 and used successfully for the first time today with the Commission agreeing by consensus that the three conditions had been met and therefore quotas would renew automatically.

The Chair and representatives of the hunting communities noted the significance of consensus on this issue, its difficult history, and the many people whose contributions had enabled the Commission to reach this point.  The Chair recognised the challenges and risks inherent in any approach that seeks to categorise people, and highlighted the importance of first listening to the voices of those directly affected.

Today’s sessions also included presentations by the Scientific and Conservation Committees. The two committees work closely together and collectively covered a wide range of issues including bycatch and entanglement, vessel strikes, anthropogenic underwater noise, marine debris, whale strandings and whale watching.

Several issues of process and governance were also addressed on the first day, including clarification of how issues of quorum would be handled during the meeting, and a process for further consideration of this complex issue in the future.  

The perennial problem of obtaining visas was also discussed. The Commission recognised the active support provided by both the Government of Peru and the IWC Secretariat, and stressed the importance of continuing in future to ensure information and support were provided to member governments at the earliest possible opportunity.