Ban On Whale Meat Trade More Secure as International Whaling Meeting W
Klaus Merkle
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BAN ON WHALE MEAT TRADE MORE SECURE AS
INTERNATIONAL WHALING MEETING WINDS DOWN
GRENADA, WEST INDIES, Friday, May 28, 1999 -- As the 51st annual
meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) winds to a close
today, governments and environmentalists opposed to commercial
whaling can claim a major success: they have significantly weakened the
efforts by whaling nations Japan and Norway to lift the current ban on
global trade in whale products.
Beginning with Monday s 22-9 vote against expelling Greenpeace from
the IWC meeting, a majority of delegates rejected virtually every
proposal by Japan, Norway, and their Caribbean supporters to ease
restrictions on commercial whaling, and silence all opposition.
Greenpeace has long criticized Japan s scientific whale hunt as a
disguise for commercial whaling.
The most significant vote of the week was the passage of a resolution re-
asserting the IWC s role as the world authority on whale management.
The resolution sends a strong message to officials of the Convention on
the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to take its cue
from the IWC on all matters pertaining to whales. Its passage sets the
stage for the April, 2000 meeting of CITES, taking place in Nairobi, during
which Japan and Norway are expected to push for a lifting of the ban on
international trade of whale meat.
Other key votes during the week-long meeting included:
The defeat of Japan s motion to conduct all IWC votes by secret
balloting;
The defeat of Japan s motion to re-open the Southern Ocean whale
sanctuary to whale hunting;
The passage of a resolution that DNA testing of whales is needed to
monitor illegal trade in whale meat;
The passage of a resolution obligating Japan to demonstrate that its
lethal scientific whale hunt is justified, and another calling on them to
end this hunt;
The passage of a resolution raising concern about a type of small
cetacean, the Dall s porpoise, killed routinely by Japan, and mandating
increased research into the species status.
Demonstrating its uncompromising position, Japan rejected a proposal
by Ireland that would have allowed a limited catch of coastal whales, in
exchange for giving up high seas whaling.
Japan made it clear that they want to return to full-scale commercial
whaling, said Greenpeace delegate Gerald Leape. Fortunately, pro-
whaling nations got one very clear message this week, and that is that
world opinion is still solidly opposed to commercial whaling. The IWC
has successfully raised the bar on the whale meat trade, with an eye
toward the upcoming CITES meeting.
This year s meeting also brought into sharp focus the pressure Japan
has put on Caribbean nations to support commercial whaling. Although
they do not hunt whales commercially, the six Caribbean IWC nation
voted in lockstep with Japan and Norway on each proposal, revealing
the loyalty Japan has purchased through fisheries aid to many of these
islands. The Caribbean voting record is being roundly criticized by the
region s environmental activists and whale watch operators, who see
whale watching as a potential multi-million-dollar route to self-
sufficiency. Humpback and Sperm whales live and migrate through the
Caribbean annually.
Next year s meeting of the IWC takes place in Adelaide, Australia.
please visit our web site:
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/oceans/whales/html
www.greenpeaceusa.org/oceans/whales/html