05/30/2007 02:54:30 AM
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) today
renewed Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling quotas for the inuit peoples of
Russia and Alaska, USA, and for the inhabitants of a Caribbean
island. However, Greenland's controversial plans to increase its hunts,
including targeting two new species, have not yet been approved. As the second
day of the IWC meeting draws to a close, the parties do not appear to be any
closer to reaching agreement.
The IWC has a long-standing policy of
allowing indigenous peoples to hunt otherwise protected whales to satisfy
aboriginal subsistence needs. The proposals by the US and
Russia to renew their quotas of up to 67 bowhead whales and 140
gray whales per year for another 5 years, was adopted by IWC member
countries by consensus. St Vincent and the Grenadines was also granted a
renewed permit for four humpback whales per
year.
Denmark proposed to increase the quotas
awarded for Greenland’s hunt from 175 to 200 west Greenland minke whales per
year; from 10 to 19 fin whales per year; and to add 10 humpbacks per year and 2
bowhead whales (neither of which have been hunted in Greenland for
decades). The proposal proved unacceptable to many countries
including the UK, Germany and Italy which spoke strongly against it.
Outside of the meeting, negotiation continues on the proposal to try to
gain a consensus.
WDCS is very concerned about the impact of the
proposed hunt on vulnerable whale populations about which little is known.
As many countries noted, management decisions by the IWC must be based on sound
scientific advice from its Scientific Committee. In this case the Committee
could not guarantee that the increased quote for minke whales would be
sustainable for more than one year. It had not finalised its assessment of
bowhead whales and was not able to give any management advice for humpback
whales.
Greenland argues that it requires a
greater tonnage of whale meat - up to 730 tonnes a year - to support a
growing human population. However, it is not providing a convincing
justification for this increase. Not only has it failed to report to the IWC
that it kills more than 4000 small cetaceans a year, which go toward meeting its
claimed need for whale meat, but there are also concerns that the amount of meat
that Greenland claims each whale yields is an underestimate since it does
not account for blubber and other edible products. On this basis, fewer whales
would be needed to make up the tonnage of whale meat that it claims to
need.
The renewal of Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling quotas
has had a high profile in the lead-up to this meeting with most attention
focused on whether the USA’s bowhead quota would be blocked by the whaling
nations. In 2002, the last time the aboriginal quotas were up
for renewal, Japan used the USA's need for a quota for its
Alaskan Inuit as a bargaining tool to leverage the USA’s support for Japan’s
proposal seeking a new category of commercial whaling. Later this
week, a similar proposal by Japan for a Small Type Coastal Whaling
quota, will once more be discussed and voted on by the IWC.
Source: WDCS
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