President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed a law banning the capture of whales, dolphins and other marine mammals for educational and cultural purposes. The corresponding document has been posted on the official legal information website.

According to the law, the harvesting (capture) of marine mammals for educational and cultural purposes can be carried out based on a decision of a government commission. This decision should be mandatorily posted on the official website of the federal executive body in charge of fisheries within five days from the date of its receipt.

The law also states that the specifics of the harvesting (capture) of marine mammals are established by the government.

According to the law’s authors, the harvesting of marine mammals for cultural and educational purposes in reality often means their use in entertainment events for the purposes of generating an income, Interfax reports.

“The ban on the harvesting (fishing) of marine mammals for cultural and educational purposes will prohibit dolphinariums, sea circuses, etc. to get new animals captured in the natural environment, but does not prohibit them to get animals born in captivity,” the explanatory note to the document clarifies.

The legislators explained that the question of the urgent need to amend the legislation arises in connection with the events related to the Srednyaya Bay in the Primorye Territory, where 11 killer whales and 90 beluga whales were illegally kept. It was revealed that the capture of marine mammals was carried out with numerous violations of the law.

The legislators also note that as of 2021, stationary and mobile dolphinariums are prohibited in 19 European countries. In Mexico and Chile, the capture, import and export of marine mammals is prohibited. Israel has banned the import of dolphins for entertainment purposes, and Switzerland banned the import of live cetaceans in 2012. Only Japan and some Caribbean island states continue to catch small cetaceans for sale to dolphinariums; other countries have abandoned this practice.

Meanwhile, according to the List of fauna species included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation, seven species of the order of cetaceans are classified as endangered or are under critical threat of extinction, three species are declining in number, four have the status of “rare,” six are of uncertain status and only three species are classified as recoverable and recovering.

The federal law comes into force on 1 September 2024.