Sustainability • Volume 8 • Number 13 • 11th July 2008

Annual Whaling Meeting Produces Mixed Results

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A recent meeting of the International Whaling Commission – which is characterised by strong divisions between pro- and anti-whaling nations – saw less open hostility than usual, with members approaching whaling issues in a more cooperative spirit. However, some participants complained that the meeting failed to make concrete progress in any area.

The only international forum to deal exclusively with whales, the International Whaling Committee (IWC) held its Annual Commission Meeting for the 60th time, this year in Santiago, Chile. The 81 member nations gathered to discuss issues relating to the global marine mammal stock and its past and future management. The five-day long annual conference ended on Friday, 27 June. Items discussed at this year’s meeting involved obstacles encountered in conservation work, current threats to marine mammals, marine mammals as a living resource, special whaling permits for aboriginal communities and scientific purposes, as well as research and funding.

Polarised commission working towards a change

Increasing consensus within the IWC topped the 2008 agenda. After a global moratorium on whaling was instated in 1986 the IWC has become increasingly polarised, with pro-whaling nations regularly threatening to withdraw (Bridges Trade BioRes, 8 June 2007, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/07-06-08/story2.htm). This year, the Commission saw increased efforts towards a more cooperative organisation, and held an inter-sessional meeting to seek reform (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 20 March 2008, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/08-03-20/inbrief.htm#2). At the Commission, countries decided not to vote on controversial topics, such as the possibility of establishing a third sanctuary. Japan also atypically refrained from calling a vote on reversing the commercial whaling moratorium.

Tensions exist particularly between the three big whaling countries Japan, Norway and Iceland and anti-whalers such as Australia, the US and countries in Latin America. While Norway and Iceland have continued to whale despite the moratorium, Japan officially respects the moratorium while engaging in whaling for the purposes of scientific research, which is allowed under the IWC. The IWC also grants exceptions to the whaling moratorium for aboriginal subsistence whaling.

Many IWC members, in particular those belonging to the anti-whaling Buenos Aires Group formed in 2005, see non-lethal action as a means of up-dating the organisation. Australia made a proposal for the first non-lethal scientific whale research centre at the Commission. Reportedly, the proposal was well received. Members also brought up the financial potential presented by whales as a living natural resource for coastal countries. Australia and many coastal Latin American countries rake in a substantial amount of revenues in this particular field of tourism. Total revenues from whale watching for coastal communities are estimated at US$1 billion a year. Argentina alone makes US$60 million a year, which has encouraged other Latin American countries such as Guatemala, Ecuador and Uruguay to join the IWC in recent years. As the job of the IWC is essentially regulating and protecting whales, it encourages whale watching as a non-lethal resource. At this year’s meeting, the IWC expressed a wish that research be increased in the field of whale watching and its impact on marine mammals.

Market for whale meat in decline

During the course of the previous year Japan took around 900 whales under its scientific whaling programmes. However, consumption of whale meat is waning internationally, and even in Japan, the largest consumer country. Already five years ago, environmental groups pressured UK food giant Tesco PLC into ending the sale of whale meat in Japanese supermarkets. Tesco says it reached its final decision due to lack of consumer demand. Low sales are attributed to growing international awareness of the illegal trade in whale meat and its effect on some endangered populations, combined with increased awareness of the high amount of toxins contained in whale meat. Nevertheless, both Iceland and Norway are hoping for a break into the Japanese whale meat market. In Japan, whaling researchers recently presented some two hundred schools with 10 tonnes of unsold whale meat in order to educate children about the cultural traditions associated with eating whale meat.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) recommends the IWC not to issue either export or import permits for introduction of whales from the sea for primarily commercial purposes. Despite these joint efforts, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japanese delegate to the IWC, stated at the beginning of this year that “[Japan] is trying very hard to regain a market for whale eating.”

Addressing threats to whales

The IWC spent much of its annual meeting discussing threats to whale populations, and how to minimise these threats. These threats include oil and gas operations, ship strikes and nets. The Commission organised workshops on threats related to climate change and chemical pollution. Experts were brought in to introduce new data and, for the first time in IWC history, NGOs were permitted to address the session. Five minutes were allocated to Cento de Conservacion Cetacea, the High North Alliance, WWF, the Women´s Forum for Fish, Greenpeace and Concepesca. The IWC also explicitly recognised the importance of support from other international organisations.

Members also discussed conservation monitoring. The IWC has to date established two marine mammal sanctuaries, one in the Southern Ocean (The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary) and another in the Indian Ocean (the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary). The designation of two additional sanctuaries has been suggested in past meetings, though to no avail. The Commission lacks the three-quarter majority of votes needed to substantiate the plans. The proposal made by Brazil, Argentina and South Africa concerning the creation of a South Atlantic Sanctuary was again deliberately not voted on at this year’s meeting in order to minimise tension within the IWC. Monitoring and research was said to continue in the existing sanctuaries.

Next year’s meeting will be held in Madeira, Portugal, from 28 May to 26 June 2009.

Additional resources

IWC website http://www.iwcoffice.org/index.htm

CITES website http://www.cites.org/

“Whaling Commission’s Future to be Tested in Chile”, REUTERS, 23 June 2008; “International Whaling Commission Makes Little Progress”, ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SERVICE, 1 July 2008; “IWC turns down Greenland natives’ whaling request”, TAIPEI TIMES, 28 June 2008; “Whales on Agenda”, NEWSWEEK, 25 June 2008; Whales Lose, Japan Wins as Whaling Meets End”, REUTERS, 30 June 2008; “Japan Goes Whaling, IWC Commissioners Sign Protest Declaration”, ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE, 8 November 2005; “Iceland Begins Commercial Whaling”, BBC News, 17 October 2006; “Conservationists Welcome Tesco’s Decision to End Sale of Meat in Japan”, GREENPEACE UK, 9 November 2004; “Japanese School Kids Have Whale of a Lunchtime”, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, 28 February 2008.