Whaling ban validated, as anti-whalers strike back

In a strong vote for the protection of whales, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has today overwhelmingly validated the commercial whaling ban, effectively overturning last year’s statement by a temporary pro-whaling majority that it was “no longer required”.

A re-invigorated anti-whaling voting majority at the 2007 IWC meeting, taking place in Anchorage, Alaska this week, has adopted a resolution stating that the whaling ban ‘remains valid’ and is far from ready to be lifted.

WDCS welcomed the move as an important signal to the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which defers to the IWC’s whaling ban.

WDCS’s Sue Fisher commented “Whaling countries have been trying to resume international trade in whale products via the backdoor – hoping to use the temporary pro-whaling majority at the IWC last year to persuade CITES to lift trade restrictions. The IWC has just closed that door firmly in their faces”.

At their biennial meeting next week in the Netherlands, the 170 parties to CITES will consider proposals from Japan and Iceland to move towards a resumption of international trade in whale products. Today’s resolution advises that any weakening of protection from trade “could have significant adverse effects on the moratorium on commercial whaling and increase threats to whales”. It concludes with a strong request to the CITES Parties “not to seek the transfer of cetacean species from CITES Appendix I while the moratorium remains in place”.

Over the last ten years, Japan and Norway have submitted fourteen separate proposals to CITES to resume trade in whale meat, all of which have been soundly rejected. This year, Japan and Iceland are proposing that CITES conduct status reviews of all great whales species; to test whether the high level of protection CITES affords them is appropriate.

Sue Fisher continued “The proposals are a thinly-disguised attempt to usurp the IWC’s authority as the leading scientific authority on whale stocks and is also an attack on the strong and complementary relationship between the two conventions. After faltering last year, the IWC has rediscovered its authority today and is showing strong leadership to CITES.”

“Many of Japan’s allies at the IWC declined to participate in the vote and threatened to make trouble at CITES that the resolution only reflects the view of part of the membership of the IWC. However, not participating in a vote is their prerogative, but the fact remains that a majority of contracting governments attending the meeting and able to vote, did vote, and that 37 of them - a clear majority of the IWC - voted in favour of this important resolution”.

For more information on whaling and the IWC go to: http://www.stopbloodywhaling.org

Source: WDCS

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