Rebecca Lent is the Executive Secretary of the International Whaling Commission (effective 1/1/18). Rebecca worked with the U.S. government for 25 years, most recently as the Executive Director of the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, and as the Director of the Office of International Affairs at NOAA Fisheries (National Marine Fisheries Service – NMFS). Her positions at NMFS included serving as U.S. Commissioner/Acting Commissioner in two regional tuna management organizations, a one-year secondment at the World Bank, and as NMFS Regional Administrator in California. Rebecca is an economist by training, and started her career in academia in Québec, Canada.

In her talk, Rebecca is going to give an overview on how the IWC and all its partners can address some of the new threats to marine mammals. The 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling called for the ‘proper conservation of whale stocks and thus the orderly development of the whaling industry.’ ‘Real world’ economics is in fact at the origin of the Convention, which came at a time of financial hardship for the whaling fleets as catches were declining. It was also a hungry post-WW II world looking for protein and animal fats. As substitutes for whale oil developed, the prices for whale fats declined, and resulted in less whaling altogether. Many of the emerging threats to marine mammals are what economists call ‘externalities’ of other activities such as fishing (bycatch), shipping (underwater noise, marine pollution, ship strikes), energy production (acoustic testing, drilling) and use (emissions and climate change). While the use of economics and other social sciences is not yet part of the approved plan by the Commission, its potential can be explored.