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About the Project
The Whale Law Center is a program within Animal Counsel dedicated to the advancement of cetacean law and policy in the United States and beyond.
Whales, dolphins, and porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans) face severe threats worldwide. While industrial whaling was once the primary danger to these animals, today's threats are predominantly incidental and far more complex. Now, vessel strikes, fishing gear entanglement, noise pollution, prey loss, and climate change are among the main drivers of cetacean population declines.
Our understanding of cetacean sapience and society has also radically expanded over the years. This combination of intricate threats and remarkable intelligence makes these animals uniquely important candidates for law and policy efforts. Beyond this, protecting cetaceans also protects vital aquatic habitats and the countless other species that rely on them.
What is Whale Law?
Whale law is the collection of treaties, statutes, regulations, policies, and case law that influences how we interact with cetaceans.
In the United States, the primary statutes implicating cetaceans are the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and to a lesser degree, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). On the international level, the primary treaties impacting cetaceans are the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
One of the Whale Law Center's primary goals is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each piece of this legal regime. Most importantly, we seek to use this analysis to recommend more effective litigation and policy strategies moving forward. We believe that a combination of this existing framework and more cutting-edge legal theories like whale personhood is the best path for the field.
Our Past Work
We have worked on public comments, law review publications, records requests, model language, and more pertaining to cetaceans.
Most recently, we submitted a public comment on NOAA's proposed incidental take regulations for marine mammals in the Gulf.
Coming Soon...
Cetacean litigation database
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