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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.
The pre-meeting skirmishes began in mid-May when Iceland’s foreign minister
publicly criticised 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. Finally, 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
was moving toward consideration by the full Congress.
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 dozens 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.
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 publicised 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
legitimise 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.
Timetable of events
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Scientific Committee
1-13 June.
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Meetings of the sub-groups including the Conservation Committee and the
Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling
sub-committee
17-18 June.
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The 60th
Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC60) 23-17 June.
HSI will be represented at IWC60 by staff from our US
office.
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