On 21 June 2010 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) five-day annual meeting begins amid concern for the very future of the organisation as it attempts to moderate on this most contentious of international conservation issues. The IWC exists to oversee the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. The convention dates to 1946 when the whaling industry was still a significant economic activity for several countries.
The original purpose of the Convention was managing whale stocks for the orderly development of the industry. Over time, amendments voted on at successive meetings of the IWC have increased the emphasis on whale conservation. In 1986 a moratorium on commercial whaling halted large-scale hunting to allow depleted whale stocks to recover.
The Pro-Whaling Nations
Japan is the focus of most of the international whaling controversy, with its ongoing Antarctic harvest and its stated intentions to continue putting whale meat on the dinner plates of its people. Japan is one of 88 member nations of the IWC, and uses the annual meetings to make its case while from time to time threatening to leave if it doesn’t get its way. Japan is accused of ‘bribing’ small nations to support its case, which outrages anti-whaling nations such as Australia and New Zealand.
Another significant whale hunting nation is Norway, which has continuously objected to the moratorium and is not a member of the IWC. The Norwegian whaling industry is controled through quotas and territory restrictions, and only the harvest of minke whales is permitted. Recent media attention on Norway has highlighted increasing quotas and the inhumane whaling methods used.
Iceland is an IWC member that gives itself an annual minke whale quota and also supports international trade in whale meat.. It has been in and out of the IWC over the years with at different time full membership and observer status. As for other whaling activities, there are provisions in the Convention for sustainable indigenous harvests.
The International Whaling Commission Compromise Proposal
At issue during the 2010 IWC meeting is an IWC compromise proposal. This document up for debate sets out the terms under which limited commercial quotas would be issued to nations currently engaged in whaling, in return for which they would cease activities that are defying the existing moratorium. The objective is to allow some whaling in order to increase global control and enable the IWC to operate in a more productive and harmonious manner.
The IWC compromise document acknowledges the lack of progress in international accord on whaling, due to an “atmosphere of confrontation and mistrust among member governments.” It also notes “concerns among some members over the possible collapse of the IWC.”
The nations in support for the whaling compromise argue that it will reduce the overall number of killings and add further protection to the more endangered species, some of which are being taken by Japan in the Southern Ocean. Among the anti-whaling group of nations there is some support for the compromise amid serious concern for the IWC’s future.
Australia Opposed to Whaling Compromise
The Australian government meanwhile is vehemently opposed to any form of compromise. Environment Minister Peter Garrett was reported by Radio New Zealand on 20 June 2010 as saying he will work to convince other anti-whaling nations to reject the compromise, and that Australia will vigorously resist it. In May the Australian Government announced it will take a case to the International Court of Justice against Japan’s 'scientific whaling’ in Antarctic waters.
New Zealand is attempting a diplomatic path. On 20 June 2010 Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully expressed some pessimism about the IWC in an interview on TVNZ's Q & A programme. Referring to the possibility that the IWC might cease to function as a fully representative body, Mr McCully said that "essentially we could end up with anarchy, in terms of the whaling activity on the open sea, there'll no real effective constraint.“
Mr McCully will attend the meeting along with Sir Geoffrey Palmer, New Zealand’s representative on the IWC. Earlier in 2010 Sir Geoffrey attracted considerable comment within New Zealand when speaking of the serious need for compromise.
Environmental groups have expressed concern that at the meeting the survival of the IWC will override the core issue of saving the whales. On one thing there is consensus. The annual IWC meeting in Morocco is absolutely critical for not only protecting the whales of the world’s oceans, but also for the mechanisms by which that can be achieved.
Brian Cross - Brian is a feelance writer specialising in content for the corporate sector, based in Wellington, New Zealand.
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