At a recent meeting, President Vladimir Putin publicly announced that he would support efforts to ban dolphin and whale captures for educational and entertainment purposes. The 2nd hearing of the bill will take place on 14th December, a 3rd hearing will then be scheduled after which we are optimistic that President Putin will sign the bill into law.
Margaux Dodds, Marine Connection’s captivity campaigns lead comments; “Working alongside colleagues, Marine Connection has for many years been calling for a permanent ban on wild captures in Russian waters in order that dolphins, belugas, killer whales and other cetacean species are no longer ripped from their pods for public display. If passed, this new legislation would bring an end to beluga and killer whales being captured for export to China which is a major market for Russian-caught whales, and where the number of facilities being established to display captive cetaceans is expanding rapidly.”
The temporary ban on captures of orcas and beluga whales in Russian waters is currently in place until 2023.
