Permanent Secretary Joshua Wycliffe

Ten Tabua retained out of the 146 repatriated Tabua from New Zealand to create awareness on biodiversity.

This was confirmed by the Environment Ministry.

Permanent Secretary Joshua Wycliffe says there is a need for awareness on whales in the country.

Wycliffe says protecting the whales is part of environment protection to ensure proper conservation and development of whale stocks and safeguarding for future generations

“A whale is a protected species. We ensure that whales are not used for any of its body parts and Tabua is one of them. So we go about raising awareness.”

Meanwhile, Australia had signed the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling which does not allow import of Tabua which was attained after the convention.

He says the Ministry intends to undertake carbon dating process to prove that the Tabua was extracted before the convention was instituted in 1979.

Australia stopped whaling in 1979 and, since then, has been a global advocate for whale conservation.