Environment Ministry and NGOs Sign Agreement to Manage Seasonal Whale Watching in Samaná

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARENA) and six other organizations signed an agreement of understanding to establish clear laws about the management of seasonal whale watching which formally begins on January 15.

Whale-watching season is the most economically dynamic period in the province of Samaná and the entire Atlantic coastal area.

The activity was headed by Environment Minister Jaime David Fernández Mirabal, who stressed the importance of institutional government and private sector involvement to help strengthen natural resources and to take advantage of them in a rational manner.

Whale watching period formally begins on January 15 and ends at the end of March. The goal of the memorandum is to encourage involved observers to turn in and share all information gathered once the period is over. Information includes the technical, scientific and administrative aspects, explained Fernández Mirabal.

He stressed his interest in having each of the agreement’s signatories provide their evaluations at the end of the season as well as new support to help make the coming year better in this regard.

The intergovernmental collaboration agreement was also signed by Iris Pérez Cruz, of the Tourism Ministry; Colonel José Alejandro Liriano, of the Navy; Nadim Peguero Bezi, from the Association of Ship Owners of Bahía de Samaná (ASDUBAISA); Patricia Lamelas, from the Center for the Conservation and Eco-Development of Bahía de Samaná (CEBSE); Professor Idelissa Bonelly de Calventi, of the Dominican Foundation for Sea Rights(FUNDEMAR); Osvaldo Vásquez, from Marine Consulding and Technology (ATEMAR) and the Operators of the Banco de la Plata.

The memorandum, signed in Environment Minister Jaime David Fernández Mirabal’s office, defines the responsibilities of all involved from the public to the private sector. The main aspects under consideration are the control of authorized ships, the number of ships that can meet in one observation point, the distance that should be kept from the whales and security measures for passengers.

Whale-watching season is the most economically dynamic period in the province of Samaná and the entire Atlantic coastal area. The Dominican Republic is one of the 14 places in the Caribbean where one can observe whales and one of 64 places in the world. A large ecotourism industry has formed around this activity.

The economic activities generated during this period are regulated by an inter-institutional commission that includes SEMARENA, ASDUBAISA and CEBSE. The goal of the commission is to strengthen the facility and transparency of the system involving giving out licenses to operate.

The Sanctuary Sea Mammals of the Dominican Republic is the sister organization of the Stellwagen Bank of Massachusetts, USA, managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is there the whales who are in the DR from January to April spend the rest of the year.

Osvaldo Vásquez, Patricia Lamelas, Idelissa Bonelly widow of Calventi, Iris Pérez Cruz, Jaime David Fernández Mirabal, Coronel José Alejandro Liriano, Nadim Peguero Bezi and Eleuterio Martínez.