Legislative regulation of the use and protection of marine mammals in Russia

We discuss the main provisions of the national legislation on the use and protection of marine mammals. In the absence of a special legislative act, legal issues are regulated by the laws “On Environmental Protection”, “On the Animal World”, “On Fishery and the Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources”, which include marine mammals in the more general legal concept of “aquatic biological resources”, this approach remains in subordinate legislation. The assigment of marine mammals into a separate legal category will contribute to the improvement of legal ways of their conservation and regulation of marine activities that affect the habitat (shipping, wind power facilities, extraction of aquatic bioresources, oil and gas). There is a need to develop and adopt rules for veterinary and sanitary examination (in relation to wild capture species); rules for assistance, rehabilitation and release into the natural habitat of marine mammals affected by anthropogenic factors; rules of detention in captivity; recommendations for the observation of whales and other marine mammals. The author’s conclusions contribute to the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals, the promotion of the concept of “Blue economy” and the conservation of marine mammals as a global natural heritage.