This year’s annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has ended, not unexpectedly, in acrimony and farce.
Every year the commission meets to discuss the hunting of whales. Every year conservationists push for fewer whales to be caught. Every year Japan, Norway and other nations – who are sometimes accused of being bought by pro-whaling nations – generally block proposals that tighten controls on whaling.
This year’s big stumbling block was an age-old attempt to create a sanctuary for whales in the South Atlantic.
In a creative use of the English language, the IWC reports that Japan and other pro-whaling nations said they did not wish to vote on the sanctuary “because they considered that reverting to voting could be harmful to the constructive dialogue and atmosphere in the Commission that have been achieved in recent years”.
When it became clear a vote was going to be forced the pro-whalers* walked out, and the meeting was abandoned.
Needless to say, conservation groups were not happy. “Latin American countries have waited a decade for this sanctuary, that has once again been blocked due to Japan and its allies,” said Greenpeace spokesman Willie Mackenzie. “While petty politics continue to prevent progress, no concerted international action can be taken by the IWC to conserve the world’s endangered whale populations.”
In slightly more positive news for conservationists, the IWC has agreed to stop accepting membership payments in cash.
- full country list: Japan, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Iceland, Norway, Nauru, Mongolia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Grenada, Kiribati, Morocco, Korea, Ghana, Palau, Togo, Tuvalu, St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia.
Image: detail from ‘A New England whaler’, via Wikimedia.
