CANBERRA, Sept 18 AAP - Restricting whale watching tours in sensitive breeding areas, accrediting tour operators and developing a code of practice for whale-based tourism were among proposals released today by the federal Australian Nature Conservation Agency (ANCA).
More than 100 recommendations and issues have emerged from a national conference last July which for the first time drew together representatives of the tourism industry, government and marine researchers to discuss whale watching tourism. ANCA chief executive Peter Bridgewater said there was a need to work quickly to develop an ecologically sustainable whale-based tourism industry in Australia.
"The report sets out the key proposals for the future direction of whale watching in Australia in an attempt to find the best balance between growing tourism demand and the urgent need to protect whales and other cetaceans," Dr Bridgewater said in a statement. Whale watching has grown dramatically since the late 1980s, with operations now established in 65 countries and island territories.
Last year, an estimated 5.4 million people worldwide spent more than $700 million on this kind of ecotourism. In Australia, whale watchers increased 12.8 per cent between 1991 and 1994, with more than 500,000 participants last year, generating as much as $70 million a year in direct and associated spending, such as accommodation.
The July conference has proposed Commonwealth regulations and complementary state legislation to protect whales and dolphins, prevent disruption to their habitats and ensure appropriate behaviour by tourists and tour operators near whales and dolphins.
Other proposals to emerge from the July conference include: