Conservation Actions
Conservation Actions
The International Whaling Commission has protected bowhead whales from commercial whaling since its inception in 1946 and there is no aboriginal subsistence whaling exemption for Spitsbergen bowhead whales. No specific mechanisms are currently in place to protect bowhead habitat or to prevent incidental mortality in fishing gear. More general measures taken for environmental protection of the waters off northeast Greenland, Svalbard and Franz Joseph Land may have some beneficial effects on the habitat of bowheads. The species is listed in CITES Appendix I and CMS Appendix I.
