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Pro-whaling nations ready to take control of the International Whale Commission
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Pro-whaling nations ready to take control of the International Whale Commission
To the dismay of conservationists, pro-whaling nations appeared set to take a majority yesterday in the International Whaling Commission for the first time since a moratorium on whaling was imposed in 1986.The African nations of Gambia, Togo and Cameroon and the Pacific island of Nauru became the newest members of the IWC when the main session opened in the South Korean port city of Ulsan yesterday and are expected to vote in favor of whaling states.Even so, 75 percent of votes will be needed to pass policy decisions, such as ending the moratorium on whaling, making it unlikely there will be any major changes.
But whaling states could still use their new-found majority to push the IWC to shake off its protectionist image and return to its historic roots of regulating whaling, a move likely to be opposed by countries seeking more curbs on an activity they view as cruel and unnecessary. “The world today will either be stepping forward into an era where conservation and the environment really matter, or it will be stepping back into the Dark Ages, where the people of the world think that slaughter of whales using grenades, electric lances and shooting them with rifles is something that we should accept,” said Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell.
International conservation groups have accused Japan and other pro-whaling nations of trying to win support by bringing developing states into the IWC with promises of aid – a charge Japan denies. Representatives from New Zealand, Britain and Australia, nations staunchly opposed to whaling, said these new members would likely side with pro-whaling nations and give those in favor of a resumption of commercial whaling a slim majority in the IWC. “The probability is very high that the pro-whaling bloc will be able to secure a slim majority,” said Sue Lieberman, a director at WWF International, a leading conservation group.
The slim majority will enable pro-whaling groups to set the agenda, close down committees – such as the IWC conservation watchdog that monitors environmental issues posing potential harm to whale stocks – and pass resolutions in favor of Japan expanding its scientific whaling program.The IWC does not regulate Japan’s scientific whaling program, which harvests hundreds of whales a year. Most of the whale meat, a delicacy in Japan, ends up in upmarket restaurants.
Japan’s shopping list</B>
A Japanese representative to the talks made clear that it would waste no time in taking advantage of a new majority. “We have a long shopping list,” Joji Morishita, the alternate commissioner of the Japanese delegation, told reporters.The IWC was founded in 1946 to regulate whaling and protect the giant mammals that had been hunted to the edge of extinction, but the rise of environmentalism has gradually made it more protectionist in tone.
“The first thing we would like to do is see a normalisation of this organization,” Morishita said.In an early victory for the conservationists, Gambia, Togo and Nauru were not allowed to vote on an early procedural issue because it was not clear whether they had paid their dues.One of the more contentious items is Japan’s proposal to increase its annual intake of minke whales to 935 from 440 and to expand its hunt to include 10 fin whales a year for the next two years. By 2007-08, Japan wants to be allowed to hunt 40 fin whales and 50 humpback whales.
At last year’s meeting in Italy, there was not enough support to pass a management scheme that would have ended the commercial whaling moratorium. The scheme aimed to impose tight controls on whalers while closing the loopholes on scientific whaling.Chris Carter, New Zealand’s conservation minister, said if Japan got its way at the meeting and pushed back conservation measures, it “risks its image in the world on this single issue.”
<B>Jon HERSKOVITZ</B>
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