Commercial whaling could be recognized in the open seas for the first time in a quarter century since the worldwide moratorium on whaling. Yesterday (on Earth Day), the International Whaling Commission released a controversial proposal to save several thousand whales by capping the amount currently hunted under special permits and objections. If adopted at the IWC annual meeting in Morocco in June, the proposed consensus decision will bring all whaling under the control of the IWC and set 10 years of catch limits for whaling nations.
“Some whaling will be the price to pay for the reduction in the number of whales killed,” IWC chair Cristian Maquieira says (Washington Post). “I don’t think anybody will be happy with the numbers, but what I’m trying to achieve is a situation where everybody is willing to sit down at the table because they see something there that otherwise they would be unable to obtain.”
The 88-nation IWC put forth the whaling ban in 1986, but since then over 33,000 whales have been hunted by Japan, Iceland and Norway. “For the first time since the adoption of the commercial whaling moratorium, we will have strict, enforceable limits on all whaling operations,” Maquieira says (BBC).
Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu complains that the overall catch limits are far from the Japanese request (Japan Today). The cut in the limit for minke catches in the Antarctic Ocean “is too drastic.”
Calling the moratorium, “one of the 20th century’s most iconic conservation victories,” the Natural Resources Defense Council says: “Unfortunately, the United States has voiced support for the dangerous new proposal to overturn the international moratorium, claiming it will rein in Japan, Iceland and Norway’s annual killings currently in defiance of international law.” But US IWC Commissioner, Monica Medina maintains: “The United States affirms its support of the commercial whaling moratorium and will oppose any proposal that would lift the moratorium… [and] will carefully review the proposal put forward.”
Some pro-whale activists say the deal grants international approval for the continued slaughter of thousands whales: “From our point of view, it’s a whaler’s wish list,” says International Fund for Animal Welfare global whale program director Patrick R. Ramage (NYT). “Rather than negotiate a treaty that brings commercial whaling to an end… they have created a system under which it will continue.”
Maquieira admits, “It’s a proposal where the glass will be half full” (Time). He adds, “I would prefer something different, but there is nothing out there” (NYT).
Image: Minke whale by scott1e2310 via Flickr creative commons