by Bernard Unti
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| NOAA |
| Whales are not yet safe. |
Embattled whale meat shipments. Dissenting government ministers. Presidential statements. Council caucuses. Congressional resolutions.
Weeks before the start of the 60th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Santiago, Chile, the salvos and fireworks were well underway.
Opening Volleys
The pre-meeting skirmishes began in mid-May when Iceland’s foreign minister publicly criticized her government’s decision to resume whaling. Then came word that Iceland and Norway had resumed shipments of whale meat to Japan, drawing criticism from the U.S. State Department.
Shortly after that, in a state of the nation address, Chile’s president Michele Bachelet advocated for a full prohibition on whaling by the Chilean parliament.
The Environment Council of the European Union reached agreement on a common position of support for the moratorium. Dominica announced that after eight years of supporting the whaling nations it would not vote with them in Santiago.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. Congress, a resolution asking the government to use all appropriate measures to strengthen the moratorium on commercial whaling passed the House of Representatives.
Expectations for 2008
On June 23, all of these tussles and scuffles will give way to IWC 2008, as delegates from approximately 80 nations and several dozen NGOs gather to participate in deliberations crucial to the survival of the world’s whale species.
The Santiago meeting is likely to differ from the one held in Anchorage, Alaska last year. There, the renewal of aboriginal subsistence whaling (ASW) quotas and the restoration of majority support for the 22-year moratorium on commercial whaling dominated the agenda.
The Anchorage meeting also saw the defeat of Japan’s perennial “coastal whaling” proposal and its attempt to prompt a motion encouraging the 2007 CITES convention to reconsider its ban on the international trade in meat and other whale parts.
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| IWC 2008 will decide the fate of the world's whales. |
This year, the proposal for a whale sanctuary in Chilean waters is likely to come up, with the eleven member nations of the Latin American bloc asserting their commitment to whale watching as an economic boon.
HSI Activity
In the run up to IWC 2008, Humane Society International (HSI) has been working on several fronts, preparing to issue a new report concerning the claim that whales are depleting the world’s fisheries, extending its efforts to curb and eliminate both demand and distribution of whale meat, supporting and promoting passage of the congressional resolution.
Marine mammal scientist Dr. Naomi Rose left for Chile in early June to participate in discussions of the IWC’s scientific committee.
In January, HSI-Australia secured a historic decision in the Australian Federal Court, which ruled that a Japanese fishing company was in violation of Australian law when it went whaling in the Australian Whale Sanctuary.
The ruling, which came after a five year litigation strategy, set the stage for highly publicized confrontations between Australian coast guard vessels and the Japanese whaling fleet in the South Pacific.
Future Unknown
HSI has also been involved in ongoing discussions concerning the future of the IWC which has lately become embroiled in political standoffs, anger over high seas hijinks pitting whale campaigners against whalers, and rumors that its leadership is steering the body toward a “corrupt bargain” that would legitimate Japan’s plans to expand its whaling.
Will the body with the most influence over the fate of the world’s whales be the instrument of their salvation? Or will it cede hard-won ground to the whaling minority, opening the door to more whaling and putting the whales of our world in greater jeopardy?
The eyes of millions now turn toward Santiago to find out.
