In a series of too-close-for-comfort votes, pro-conservation International Whaling Commission member countries today narrowly preserved the commission's right to discuss and implement conservation and welfare reforms, and prevented the use of secret ballots to decide controversial issues.

In the first vote of the IWC's 57th annual meeting in Ulsan, South Korea, Japan proposed deleting from the formal meeting agenda all discussion of conservation issues, including the establishment of sanctuaries, humane killing methods, the IWC's Conservation Committee, and environmental threats facing whales. Japan narrowly failed to reach the simple majority required for the proposal to pass, and the measure was defeated by a vote of 29-28.

Conservation prevailed because three pro-whaling nations who joined the IWC just days before the start of the meeting had not yet paid their membership dues, and were therefore prohibited from voting on the first day of the proceedings. The Gambia, Nauru and Togo recently joined the IWC, and were expected to tip the balance of power in favor of pro-whaling nations like Japan, Norway and Iceland.

Compelling arguments made by Australia and New Zealand may also have influenced the initial IWC votes. Representatives from the two countries reportedly took the floor in support of conservation issues before the vote.

"We oppose commercial whaling on the basis it is unnecessary, unjustified and inhumane," Australian Environment Minister Senator Ian Campbell told the Environmental News Service. He stated that Australia is "in vigorous pursuit of a permanent ban on commercial whaling."

In the afternoon session, Japan proposed changing IWC voting rules from open voting to secret ballots on all controversial issues, but that measure was also defeated, in a 30-27 vote. For the remainder of the meeting, Japan and its pro-whaling partners' efforts to weaken the existing moratorium on commercial whaling will remain open for public examination.

Secret voting "flies in the face of transparency and government accountability," said Humane Society International President Patricia Forkan. "Japan and its pro-whaling allies want the freedom to vote in favor of lifting the commercial whaling moratorium without having to face public scrutiny."

Japan Still Scheming

The next big battle will be over the Revised Management Scheme (RMS), a proposal to allow the lifting of the ban on commercial whaling in effect since 1986, and replace it with managed commercial whaling. The IWC will debate and vote on this issue tomorrow, as HSI observers remain on hand to arm governments with a critique of the RMS and reasons to keep the commercial whaling ban in place.

Another bone of contention is likely to be Japan's new Antarctic scientific whaling plan, released at the meeting's opening session. Despite the ban on commercial whaling, Japan continues to kill hundreds of whales each year under a "scientific" loophole in the IWC treaty. The Japanese Antarctic Research Program (JARPA) has employed Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, Ltd., a Japanese whaling company, which has sent five whaling ships to the Antarctic coast each year for 18 years to kill 440 minke whales with explosive harpoons and rifles. The company subsequently sells whale meat for human consumption in Japan.

Under the new plan, known as JARPA II, Japan proposes increasing its scientific take of minke whales from 440 to 935, and additionally kill 50 humpback and 50 fin whales per year. Although the first two years of the plan are stipulated as a "feasibility study" in which no humpback whales will be killed and no more than 10 fin whales will be killed, conservationists oppose all scientific whaling.

"Lethal sampling is not necessary to study any aspect of the biology of these animals," said Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist for HSI. "Non-lethal techniques abound and most of the IWC scientists have emphasized this again and again. Japan ignores all critical comments and continues to abuse the scientific whaling provision of the treaty."

Late last year, HSI requested permission from Australia's Federal Court to sue Kyodo for killing whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary adjacent to Antarctica. That request was denied on May 27, but HSI submitted a formal appeal of the decision on June 17.

While supporters of whale conservation prepare for the week's battles, however, they also breathed a sigh of relief at the narrow reprieve conservation issues got at today's session.

"We won today, but that not may be the case tomorrow," said Forkan. But even if voting rights are granted to the new member countries, Forkan noted, "they can't revisit this issue and therefore, welfare and conservation remain well within the IWC mandate, as they should."