News and Analysis • Volume 8 • Number 5 • 20th March 2008
Meeting Focuses On Future Of Whaling Commission
Plans to lift a ban on whaling were reportedly discussed in a closed-door meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Under the deal, nations would be allowed to resume coastal whaling. However, they would have to stop killing whales near Antarctica, which Japan currently does on ’scientific’ grounds, although the meat then is channelled to the market.Commercial whaling was banned in 1986 when many whale populations were at the brink of collapse. The ban was intended as a moratorium to allow scientists to determine the scope of the problem and how it could be managed. Environmentalists and anti-whaling nations such as Britain and Australia have sought to keep the ban in place, while whaling nations such as Japan and Norway have spearheaded efforts to get the ban removed, and discussions at the IWC have become increasingly inflamed.
The inter-sessional meeting of the IWC, held in London from 6-8 March, focused on the future of the IWC, seeking ways to move forward in a cooperative way. “The IWC has in recent years shown increasing signs of polarisation and has reached something of an impasse. That is why the Annual Meeting in Anchorage last year decided to hold this London meeting,” said the meeting Chair. Reportedly the spirit at the meeting was cooperative, with participants discussing proposals for improving the way the IWC work, such as: reducing the use of voting; ensuring adequate notice of matters to be considered to reduce surprises; employing cooling off periods when difficulties arise; and using small negotiating groups.
The IWC annual meeting will be held in Santiago, Chile, in June this year.
“Secret Plan to Let Japan Resume Whaling,” THE INDEPENDENT, 9 March 2008; “Ice Thaws But Little Else Moves at Whaling Meeting,” REUTERS, 8 March 2008.