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 Editorials | Environmental | June 2008 
Whaling Commission Seeks Consensus on Future
 Daniela Estrada - Inter Press Service
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Santiago - The International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) 60th annual meeting, which is testing the future of the organisation itself, kicked off this week in Chile with a strong conservationist message from President Michelle Bachelet.
Although she did not take part in the opening session Monday, the Chilean leader sent an important message to the representatives of the 80 governments that make up the IWC by signing a draft law that declares a permanent ban on whaling in Chilean waters.
The law makes it a crime "to kill, hunt, capture, hold, possess, transport, disembark, produce, commercialise, store or carry out any transformation process involving any live or dead whale of any species," said the president.
Violations of the ban are punishable by prison, said Bachelet in a ceremony held at an abandoned whaling station, which is now a museum.
The whale protection zone comprises 5.4 million square kilometres of coastal waters.
The socialist president also signed a decree that declares 43 species of whale as "natural monuments."
"Because 50 percent of all known cetacean species can be found in Chilean waters, this measure clearly demonstrates the country’s strong commitment to conservation," said Chile’s environment minister Ana Lya Uriarte at the start of the meeting.
The IWC, which was set up in 1946 by the signatories to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), declared a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986, which exempted native communities in the United States, Russia and Greenland that depended on whale hunting for survival.
The moratorium has only been defied by Iceland, Norway and Japan, which in 1987 began controversial scientific whaling programmes based on article eight of the ICRW.
Chile, by contrast, forms part of the Buenos Aires Group, made up of a dozen Latin American countries that advocate non-lethal research, and whale watching.
IWC Chairman William Hogarth said the issues to be discussed at this week’s five-day meeting would be decided by consensus.
Japan’s main demand is that the IWC authorise commercial whaling in four small traditional coastal whaling communities, while conservationists are calling for the establishment of a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary, to be added to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary created in 1994.
But for the time being, the blocs appear to be willing to compromise on these issues for the sake of moving forward on an in-depth reform of the IWC. That means each side will continue pressing those demands, but within the framework of a broader, medium-term debate.
"Japan's objective is to resume commercial whaling for abundant species on a sustainable basis under international control," says a background document presented by that country, which refutes a number of criticisms and accusations by those critical of its whaling practices.
The Japanese government’s position was protested by a group of around 30 demonstrators outside of the hotel where the meeting is being held.
In the document, the Japanese government denies that it bought votes in the IWC with foreign aid and states that it carries out both non-lethal and lethal research, arguing that the latter is "essential for population and ecosystem modelling. "
Many whale species and stocks are abundant, growing and recovering from overhunting in the past, says the document.
But the IWC scientific committee said it is not easy to determine how many whales there are in the world’s oceans.
"We have not been able to read the complete report yet, because it was only presented this (Monday) morning, but from what we have seen so far there are very important elements, such as a discussion of the effects of climate change on whales," Susan Lieberman, Global Species Programme Director for WWF International, told IPS. "It even recommends holding a meeting this year on the issue."
Lieberman added that the scientific community does not have a clear estimate on the number of Antarctic minke whales - the species hunted by Japan for scientific purposes.
"Another very important aspect (mentioned by the research report) is the critical situation of the grey whale off the coasts of Russia and Korea caused by the oil industry and fishing nets that the whales get stuck in. There are only 150 grey whales left in that area," she said.
Brazilian commissioner Bernardo Veloso told IPS that his country and Argentina would once again present their proposal to create a South Atlantic Sanctuary, although they were not sure about submitting it to a vote.
Veloso said, however, that they would show a video on the initiative in which representatives of coastal communities from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and South Africa took part. (South Africa is a co-sponsor of the initiative).
"What we are looking at carefully is how we are going to approach the question (of the sanctuary), because we see it as an integral part of any possible solution for the future of the Commission," said Veloso.
"All of us in the IWC are committed to generating a political climate that is conducive to the search for solutions for the Commission. In that context, the commissioners, the representatives of all of the countries, have discussed the possibility of not putting up to vote issues that we know would lead to confrontation," he said.
"It isn't only the question of the sanctuaries, but also of Japan’s coastal whaling," he added.
"We will not be responsible for failing to generate the necessary political climate (for defining the future of the IWC), but we will always insist that any solution must take into account respect for existing sanctuaries and the creation of new ones," said Veloso.
"We completely agree that sterile debates must be avoided in the plenary session, to prevent the parties from digging in their heels on their own positions and refusing to negotiate," Argentine representative Javier Esteban Figueroa commented to IPS.
"We hope the big contribution of the Chile meeting will be to launch a transparent, participative negotiating process in which the parties can set forth their views with respect to their own interests, in such a manner that everyone is satisfied," he said. |
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