International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the major international body responsible for conserving whales and regulating whale hunting. Member nations of the IWC agree to follow the commission’s founding agreement, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which was signed in Washington, D.C., in 1946. This agreement regulates whale hunting in many ways. For example, it forbids the hunting of certain whale species, designates various areas as whale sanctuaries, and sets limits on the number and size of whales that may be killed. The IWC also compiles statistics of how many whales are caught each year, and it promotes, funds, and publishes scientific research on whales.
Nearly 90 nations belong to the IWC. The commission meets once a year to review the effectiveness of its conservation and management procedures and, if necessary, to revise the regulations made under its founding agreement. The IWC’s headquarters are based in Cambridge, England.
See also Whale (Conservation) .
