In a written Policy Brief with a strong conservation message for the Ghanaian Government, Friends of the Nation urged the government to show leadership by supporting proposals to further the Commission’s work on conservation.

This includes; the South Atlantic Whales Sanctuary (SAWS) proposal, which seeks to promote biodiversity, conservation and non-lethal utilisation of whales ( that is whale-watching) .

Mr Donkris Mevuta, Executive Director of the NGO said the Pro-conservation votes of Ghana and other African countries were crucially important since Japan was said to have proposed the restart of commercial whaling at the IWC meeting.

Whales belong to a group of marine vertebrates called cetaceans, to which dolphins and porpoises also belong. To date 18 different species have been documented to live in Ghanaian waters.

"Cetaceans are marine top predators which play a major role to sustain the food chain of the high seas such as producing, faecal plumes near the surface which support plankton growth and serve as food for pelagic fish" .

The FoN director pointed out that the gulf of Guinea was the breeding area for Humpback Whales and stated that whale watch could boost local tourism and income and that the SAWS would protect whale stock levels in the region by identifying and mitigating threats .

“It also intends to stimulate research cooperation especially by developing countries, develop sustainable non-extractive and non-lethal economic use of whales for the benefit of coastal communities.”

The Executive Director said, the economic value of whales was high as they promoted tourism through watching that brought in revenues.

"Ghana’s National Tourism Development Plan (2013-2027) makes significant reference to the importance of wildlife tourism and notes the potential for whale watching".

UNESCO considers SAWS to be vitally important for supporting marine biodiversity conservation and to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, Life below Water.

Therefore, supporting the IWC’s conservation work would be consistent with Ghana’s position in other domestic and international policies and commitments such as Ghana’s 1971 Wildlife Conservation Regulations (LI. 685), the MOU on Western African Aquatic Mammals under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

He said Ghana also sought to enhance marine conservation through its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, and had been outspokenly supportive of SDG 14.

He said on the 2016 IWC Meeting, Ghana presented a draft resolution on food security, which explained that: "marine genetic resources, including cetaceans, could help alleviate hunger in developing countries".

He said FoN was of the view that the restoration of depleted fish stocks in Ghana could not be achieved by hunting whales and dolphins (marine bush meat) but rather actively applying sustainable fisheries management skills and techniques.

“FoN welcomes MOFAD's move to prevent the collapse of pelagic fish stocks by measures such as the recently announced closed season as one of the key measures to restore fish stocks.