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| At risk if a dangerous deal goes through. © Vicki Beaver/istockphoto |
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by Natalie Ragan
Newly-released documents [PDF] reveal that the current U.S. Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), a holdover from the Bush Administration, is working on a package deal that would legitimize commercial whaling, effectively dismantling the current worldwide ban on that activity. This deal is at odds with the wishes of the majority of citizens around the globe who care about protecting whales from commercial slaughter.
A Fragile Moratorium
Ever since the International Whaling Commission (IWC) implemented a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986, Japan has continued killing whales no matter the price, going so far as to disguise its commercial whaling as a “scientific” whaling program. Together with Norway and Iceland, Japan remains one of only three countries in breach of the moratorium and has killed more than 15,000 whales since the ban was put in place.
A Dangerous Compromise
Through a closed-door process launched in 2008, Dr. William Hogarth, the U.S. Commissioner and IWC Chair, has been negotiating an agreement within the IWC that will lift, in part, the ban on commercial whaling by allowing whales to be killed in countries’ coastal waters for commercial purposes. Reports also show that this compromise package is not calling for an end to the abuses of Japan’s scientific whaling, instead only asking the country to reduce the self-alloted numbers killed. Even more disconcerting is that the deal would allow the resumption of commercial whaling based only on the promise that Japan will reduce the number of whales it kills in the future.
Moreover, the deal will not stop or even reduce the number of whales killed each year by Norway and Iceland or prevent other countries from starting similar hunts. This deal allows for the very real possibility of increasing the numbers of whales killed each year.
Such an arrangement would undermine the hard-earned protections for whales that have been achieved in the past decades and would undoubtedly be detrimental to whale populations worldwide.
Inhumane and Unproductive
In addition to raising concerns about conservation and ecological sustainability, whaling is an inherently cruel practice. Due to their size, there is no humane way to kill whales, and most harpooned whales face tremendous suffering and lengthy deaths. Because of the revenue generated by whale watching, whales are worth much more alive than dead and it would be more humane and economical to expand responsible whale watching enterprises than to prop up an outmoded industry that costs thousands of whales their lives.
Up to Obama
Comments made by President Obama as a candidate suggest that he would like to strengthen, not weaken, the international moratorium on commercial whaling. In a statement made to Greenpeace before the November 2008 election, Obama said that “allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable.”
HSI is now looking to the Obama administration to stand up for whales. The Whales Need US coalition, of which HSI is a member, sent a letter [PDF] to President Obama requesting that he step up to the plate and undo the last eight years of damage.¹
In addition, HSI and other groups are sending a briefing [PDF] to the US and other governments of IWC member countries listing the reasons why the Chair’s suggestions in the proposed deal must be rejected.
¹In June, HSI joined other NGOs in sending a second letter [PDF] ahead of the 61st annual International Whaling Commission meeting.
Updated June 19, 2009
