2015
A Recovery Plan under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
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About the recovery plan
The blue whale is listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) as endangered.
A recovery plan, the Blue Whale Conservation Management Plan, has now been made under s269A(2) of the EPBC Act.
In 2005, the Australian Government released the first joint recovery plan for blue, fin and sei whales. Under s279(2) of the EPBC Act, the Environment Minister must review a recovery plan at intervals of not longer than five years. A review into the blue, fin and sei whale recovery plan was conducted in 2010, and it was determined that a recovery plan for blue whales was still required and that the plan should be updated.
The new recovery plan, the Blue Whale Conservation Management Plan, is aligned with the format of the International Whaling Commission's 'Conservation Management Plan' framework, while still meeting all of the requirements of a recovery plan under the EPBC Act.