By Kitty Block
St. Kitts, West Indies—Discussions of whale sanctuaries dominated the morning session of the 58th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission. Brazil and Argentina proposed creation of a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary. Japan proposed elimination of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, where the country has already killed thousands of minke whales for "scientific" purposes.
The proposal for a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary, endorsed by the IWC's Conservation Committee (save for Denmark), would not only apply a "precautionary approach" to whale management in the designated zone, said Brazilian Commissioner Maria Teresa Mesquita Pessoa, but also give countries in the region the ability "to make profit in the service sector for non-lethal use" of whales. In other words, as a representative from South Africa noted, "tourists prefer to visit protected areas," and countries in the range of the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary could attract visitors with whale-watching tours.
Japan's aggressively attacked the idea of a South Atlantic sanctuary, even though its scientific whaling program would not be required to honor it. Japan could even claim an objection to the sanctuary, as it does with the Southern Ocean Sanctuary for minke hunting. Nonetheless, Japan's Alternate Commissioner Joji Morishita said the proposal "doesn't have any scientific, legal basis." All of Japan's allies immediately followed their leader and condemned the new sanctuary. Seeing the handwriting on the wall—a sanctuary requires a three-quarters majority for approval—Brazil and Argentina opted not to put the proposal to a vote.
Despite a similar split within the IWC on Japan's plan to eliminate the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, the island nation opted to put the proposal to a vote. It went down in flames. It didn't even earn a simple majority for Japan, which has aggressively worked to stock the IWC with pro-whaling nations. The proposal, which required three-quarters majority, lost by a vote of 28 for elimination of the sanctuary, 33 against, and four abstentions. Morishita used the defeat to stump for Japan's "normalization" plan. The vote was "another indication," he said, "that we need a fix to this organization."
France took advantage of the agenda item on sanctuaries to present an "informational" video on a proposed sanctuary in the French West Indies, an Eastern Caribbean zone that includes Martinique, St. Barthelemy and Guadeloupe. Despite the fact that French officials were just providing background on the proposed sanctuary—and not seeking formal IWC approval—several Caribbean nations aligned with Japan used the opportunity to raise imperialism fears. The representative from Dominica, for example, wondered aloud what France's intention might be. He suggested that it might be to "repossess the islands of the Caribbean." The comment drew loud groans from several commissioners.
Random spoutings from the IWC meeting:
• At the start of the afternoon session on Sunday, Japan claimed that a member of its delegation received a threatening email. IWC commissioners agreed to condemn any and all acts of intimidation toward members of the organization. At least one attendee wondered privately if Japan wasn't setting the stage for a censure of Greenpeace, which has tried to disrupt Japanese research whaling boats in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
