Program Term Archive

Marine Wildlife

Stubborn Whalers Take to Sea Despite Sinking Demand

Marine Wildlife

The start of summer 2024 signaled a fitful continuation of the commercial whaling still conducted by three nations: Iceland, Norway, and Japan. Two years ago, Iceland killed 148 fin whales,...

Richard Ellis

Marine Wildlife

Richard Ellis—artist, author, conservationist, and great friend of AWI—died in May at the age of 86. Ellis grew up in Belle Harbor, on the Rockaway Peninsula of Queens, New York,...

CITES Animals Committee Considers Host of Wildlife Trade Issues

Marine Wildlife, Terrestrial Wildlife

AWI joined several hundred delegates representing nearly 80 countries and a similar number of observer organizations in Geneva this July for the 33rd meeting of the Convention on International Trade in...

Advancing Animal Protection in Ocean Policy

Marine Wildlife

In June, AWI staff members attended Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW), hosted by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation in Washington, DC. CHOW—which brings together scientists, policymakers, scholars, businesses, and conservation...

Lawsuit Seeks to Protect Marine Mammals from Foreign Fishing Gear, Enforce Seafood Import Bans

Press ReleaseAugust 8, 2024Marine Wildlife

Conservation and animal protection groups sued several federal officials and departments today in the US Court of International Trade over their failure to implement the import provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection...

UNESCO Keeps Mexico Vaquita Habitat on World Heritage ‘In Danger’ List

Press ReleaseJuly 23, 2024Endangered Species, Marine Wildlife

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee renewed its call today for urgent action to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise in Mexico. With merely six to eight individuals estimated remaining, the vaquita faces...

USMCA Council to Investigate Mexico’s Failure to Protect the Vaquita

Press ReleaseJune 27, 2024Endangered Species, Marine Wildlife

After a two-year delay, the Council of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) voted unanimously yesterday to investigate Mexico’s failure to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. Mexico has not enforced its own...

New Survey: No More Than Eight Vaquita Remain

Press ReleaseJune 18, 2024Endangered Species, Marine Wildlife

Only six to eight critically endangered vaquita may remain on the planet, the Mexican government announced last week in reporting the results of a new survey. Compared to the 8...

NOAA Greenlights Gray Whale Hunt for Makah Tribe

Press ReleaseJune 14, 2024Marine Wildlife

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is disappointed with yesterday’s decision by federal regulators to issue a waiver of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to the Makah Tribe of Washington state to...

Atlantic Humpback Dolphin Listed as Endangered

Marine Wildlife

On February 20, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced its decision to list the highly imperiled Atlantic humpback dolphin as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). NMFS’s decision came...