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| OAR/NURP/UNCW |
| Two humpback whales underwater. |
By Bernard Unti
The bowhead quota for Alaska's native peoples received consensus approval at the International Whaling Commission yesterday, when IWC voted to permit the killing of 280 bowhead whales over the next five years. Of the total, 260 will be reserved for Alaskans, while 20 will be allocated for Russian whaling populations.
The same consensus extended to the Russian Federation's proposal for a 5-year quota to hunt 280 North Pacific gray whales. Adding a chapter to a long-running controversy, the Russian proposal incorporated the request by the Makah tribe of Washington for a hunting quota of five whales every year until 2012. In the past the IWC had not recognized the Makah as meeting the criteria for an aboriginal quota.
Delegates also gave unanimous consent to the 5-year proposal by St. Vincent and the Grenadines to kill humpback whales under the aboriginal subsistence whaling quota system.
Greenland's Case for Aboriginal Whaling Falters
Consensus quickly vanished when delegates took up Greenland's conflict-laden bid to add bowheads and humpbacks to its aboriginal subsistence hunting quota, however. Critical nations drew a sharp distinction between the Greenland proposal and the Alaska bowhead quota approved an hour earlier. Most critics zeroed in on the scientific data advanced by Greenland, arguing that it did not represent a comprehensive assessment and did not justify an expansion in numbers.
The case for Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark, was presented by members of the Danish delegation, who emphasized the heavy reliance of Greenlanders on whale meat. In an effort to make the case for the sustainability of the proposal, the Danish drew on scientific endorsements from the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission, a regional association comprised of whaling countries and a non-transparent body in which NGOs cannot participate. Those opposing the Greenland quota expressed dismay that it was not accompanied by evidence comparable to that provided in support of the other aboriginal subsistence hunts.
The Greenland plan, set aside at the urging of IWC Commissioner William Hogarth, is expected to resurface today, even as the IWC prepares to take up another controversial topic, Japan's small scale coastal whaling proposal.
Japan Maneuvers to Gain Commercial Whaling Advantage
Japan played a restrained but significant role throughout the day. In several key interventions, Japanese Commissioner Joji Morishita tried to "set the table" for his nation's community-based whaling proposal. Morishita endorsed the Alaska bowhead quota in a speech that emphasized cultural pluralism and tolerance, challenging fellow commissioners to extend the same consideration to the Japanese plan.
Later, Morishita deftly referenced a rumored proposal for deleting the term "aboriginal" from the Convention Schedule, suggesting that an increasing number of nations viewed the term as pejorative.
Both maneuvers were calculated to blur the standing definition of "aboriginal" in favor of a term like "traditional" that would smooth the way for approval of Japan's own coastal whaling plan, which, though advanced as a "traditional" hunt, would permit commercial sale of the meat.
Deadlock, Sanctuary, Climate Change and CITES
An afternoon session on the IWC's future was characterized by broad but inconclusive discussion of how to break or transcend the perceived impasse of the last few years, a period in which IWC meetings have become increasingly polarized. Delegates focused their remarks on the Buenos Aires Declaration of November 2005, where thirteen Latin and Southern hemisphere nations condemned scientific whaling, Japan's February 2007 conference on normalization, and an April 2007 meeting of the Pew Whale Conservation Project, launched by the Pew Environmental Group.
The IWC commissioners also heard an impassioned plea from Argentina, Brazil and South Africa for their bid to establish a South Atlantic Ocean Sanctuary system. Many nations spoke in its favor, but Iceland Commissioner Stefán Ásmundsson dismissed it as outside the responsibility of the IWC. Brazil's José Truda Palazzo quickly rebutted, arguing that the proposed sanctuary area was necessary for species conservation in light of decades of incessant and unrestrained whaling by "foreign fleets" sailing in those waters.
Despite strong general support within the IWC, a planned resolution on climate change foundered before its introduction when key nations indicated behind the scenes that they would not support it, consistent with their unwillingness to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. A CITES-focused resolution, this year's priority for Humane Society International, was the subject of substantial discussion on the sidelines, and will likely be advanced today.
Bernard Unti, senior policy adviser and special assistant to the president, received his doctorate in U.S. history in 2002 from American University. His book, "Protecting All Animals: A Fifty-Year History of The Humane Society of the United States," is available from Humane Society Press.
