whale
The International Whaling commission (IWC) seems to have failed to reach a compromise for the future of whales for the next 10 years. Both whalers and anti-whalers are blaming each other for the breakdown of the talks. The sketchy information currently coming out seems however to indicate that the anti-whaling nations were less willing to give ground than the whaling nations of Japan, Iceland and Norway. So what is the future for the IWC and for whales?
We need to remember that the IWC was set up to manage and oversee whaling, however as the years have gone by some nations have tried to turn it into a whale conservation forum – something it was never set up to do. So is now the time to effectively disband the IWC and look for other ways in which to manage and conserve whale stocks. The IWC has no power of enforcement and as much as some entrenched anti-whaling countries and NGO’s would like to stop whaling there is no international law or body to prevent it. The closest thing was the IWC – there was the option of a controlled whale hunt with reducing numbers on offer at the talks and the whaling nations were prepared to accept this, but there appears to be no movement on concessions from the other side. The result is that uncontrolled whaling will continue outside the remit of the IWC. This effectively means that the IWC is a lame-duck organisation and really should be disbanded.
The IWC now no longer carries any respect or authority. By being unwilling to compromise the danger is that those countries who refused to allow tightly controlled whaling with diminishing quotas being put in place have sealed the fate – and deaths – of many more whales.
It’s not just the big 3 whaling nations of Japan, Norway and Iceland that will ignore the IWC moratorium on whaling. There’s a number of smaller countries on the sidelines watching what happens at this conference, some were contemplating resuming whaling if the moratorium had been lifted. as no firm plans have been put in place for the next 10 years and as the IWC has no authority or enforcement powers will the number of nations who decide to ignore the ban increase. The likelihood is that may be another 2 or 3 nations will decide to ignore the ban and restart hunting.
The world has moved on since the IWC was first established in 1946. It’s mission then was ”to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and the orderly development of the whaling industry.” It’s time for the organisation to stop fudging about. It now needs to look at the very reason for it’s being in existence. If there is a substantial number of countries that want to ban whaling outright within the commission then it needs to reassess it’s mission and change it’s articles – and allow those who want to continue whaling to walk away. The difficulty then becomes how do you enforce whale conservation in international waters? It’s easy to do in your own territorial waters but on the high seas? – that will require carving the entire planet up into zones that is owned and managed by individual countries and that will not be an easy thing to do.
