IWC validates commercial whaling ban, condemns Japan's hunt

The International Whaling Commission re-authorized the existing moratorium on commercial whaling that has been in place since 1986 on May 31. A group of 26 pro-whaling nations, including Japan, abstained from the vote. The whale conservation majority of 37 countries adopted a resolution stating that the whaling ban "remains valid," effectively overturning last year's statement by a temporary pro-whaling majority that the moratorium was "no longer required." The vote indicates the renewed strength of the anti-whaling group of nations, observers said today, the final day of the Commission's four day annual meeting, taking place at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage. Japan stopped commercial whaling in line with the 1986 moratorium but has been hunting whales since 1987 for so-called scientific research purposes. Japan's research whaling program in Antarctica's Southern Ocean was condemned on May 31 by a majority of the 75 IWC member nations. Japan's first Antarctic Research Program, JARPA, from 1987 to 2005 killed nearly 6,800 whales. In 2006, Japan opened JARPA II, which calls for the killing of up to 935 minke whales each year as well as 50 endangered fin whales. Japan plans to add 50 endangered humpbacks this year. Japan's research program was criticized by the IWC Scientific Committee earlier this week. In its report to the plenary meeting of IWC delegates, the Scientific Committee said, there is "little incentive" for Japan to produce data collected from its JARPA whaling program and what data has been shared, "is of little actual value." IWC members passed a resolution on May 30 that calls on the government of Japan to address 31 outstanding recommendations from the Scientific Committee and to suspend indefinitely the lethal aspects of its research program. The resolution recalls that the IWC has repeatedly requested that Japan desist from issuing permits to conduct lethal research on whales that are protected from commercial whaling. It notes that the research conducted during its last phase did not meet any of its goals, does not meet any critically important research needs, and could have been conducted by non-lethal means. In other decisions made this week, the IWC turned back the proposal by Brazil and Argentina for a Southern Atlantic Whale Sanctuary again. It needed a 75 percent majority to pass but managed to secure only 60 percent of the vote. Japan threatens to leave the IWC Japan threatened to quit the International Whaling Commission on May 31 after fierce opposition from anti-whaling nations forced it to scrap a proposal to allow four coastal villages to hunt the animals. Japan had argued its proposal to catch minke whales should fall under the umbrella of community whaling because whaling has been part of its culture for thousands of years. It did not call for a formal vote on the proposal when it became apparent it lacked the votes to get the measure passed. The 77-member IWC voted earlier in the week to allow aboriginal whaling for indigenous people, Japan endorsed those whaling quotas and had asked for the same consideration. "This hypocrisy leads us to seriously question the nature by which Japan will continue participating in this forum," said Joji Morishita, the deputy whaling commissioner. Opponents said Japan's proposal was a tacit request for permission to resume commercial whaling, 21 years after the IWC put a moratorium on the practice. Australian Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said passing the coastal whaling proposal would have set a precedent that could not be undone. "The minute you open the door to commercial whaling, how do you shut it again? That is the problem," said Turnbull. Japan said it was considering a number of options including leaving the IWC to start its own organization or resuming coastal whaling unilaterally. Indigenous hunt allowed to continue The current moratorium on commercial whaling does not affect aboriginal subsistence whaling and quotas were approved for several countries. On May 29, the IWC renewed aboriginal subsistence Whaling quotas for the Inuit peoples of Russia and Alaska, the Makah people of the US state of Washington, and for the inhabitants of the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and The Grenadines. By a consensus vote, Alaska Eskimos and the native people of Chukotka, Russia, were allocated a shared catch limit of 280 bowhead whales over a five-year period ending in 2012. The proposal did not ask for an increase on previous catch limits. Alaska Natives use whale meat as a staple in their diet and an anchor for their culture. The US delegation said its top priority was to obtain a renewal of this quota. Alaska Natives use the hunt in the tradition of their ancestors and share meat among fellow villagers. Greenland's proposal to increase its aboriginal hunt from 175 minkes and 19 fin whales to 200 minkes, 19 fin whales and two bowheads did obtain a 75 percent majority in a vote on May 31. The original proposal contained a request to take 10 humpbacks as well, but this was withdrawn after strong opposition from whale conservation countries. Some whale species recovering, but many more at risk Some good news for whale conservation did come out of the IWC meeting. The world's largest mammal, the blue whale is slowly recovering from commercial whaling, the Scientific Committee said. Observations show that the population of blue whales in the Southern Hemisphere has grown from a several hundred to a few thousand, and there is also a small rise in the population near Iceland. Once present by the hundreds of thousands, blue whale numbers are currently about 4,500 in all the world's oceans, said the IWC's chief scientist Greg Donovan. Numbers of other large species such as fin whales and humpbacks are also rising in many parts of the world, the Scientific Committee said. The Greenpeace delegation is concerned about what was not addressed by the IWC commissioners. "The functional extinction of an entire species - the Baiji dolphin - got just 15 minutes of fame here at the International Whaling Commission meeting," the group said. "The Vaquita, the Mexican dolphin likely to become extinct in the near future got about as much notice." Greenpeace said that during the four days of the IWC meeting an "estimated the 3,288 cetaceans" have died worldwide as bycatch in the nets of fishermen targeting other species, "plus the incalculable deaths from other human causes like ship strikes, pollution, bycatch and climate change." But these issues did not come up during the meeting. Sea Shephard banned from Captain Cook Hotel Japan's whale hunts have brought Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd Society ships to the Southern Ocean for the past two years in attempts to stop the slaughter. A Sea Shepherd vessel tangled with a Japanese whaler in December, an incident for which each side blames the other. Greenpeace delegation leader Shane Rattenbury said today, "The JARPA II program that began two years ago must be immediately ended before thousands more whales die needlessly." Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Captain Paul Watson, who traveled from Australia to attend the IWC meeting, was told to leave the Captain Cook Hotel and threatened with criminal trespass charges if he re-entered the building. "I was informed that the Captain Cook Hotel did not welcome certain opponents of Japanese whaling operations," said Watson. Dolphin defender Ric O'Barry was also denied permission to enter the hotel. Watson stated Sea Shepherd's primary purpose in being in Anchorage is to respond to Japanese propaganda and the proposed Japanese resolution to have Sea Shepherd Conservation Society condemned by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). "We are quite frankly proud to be the mavericks, the renegades, and the outsiders," Watson commented. "Sea Shepherd activists are the 'ladies of the night' of this movement. Many of the delegates inside agree with us and support us quietly and behind closed doors, but are afraid to be seen with us in public during the light of day."