2010-08-26 Following on from the failure of the last International Whaling Commission to come to any firm conclusions and the maintenance of the current status quo, Japan has announced plans to hold a summit in November where it is hoped that 40 or more pro-whaling nations will attend. The summit is to be held in Shimonoseki in southern Japan, a harbour with a heritage in whaling.
Japan and the other major pro-whaling nations are hoping that the summit will encourage solidarity and help in lobbying activities and strategy. The Japanese fisheries agency is hoping that the meeting will lead to an increased chance of bring the current ban on commercial whaling to an end. The pro-whaling nations believe that a sustainable hunt of the more widespread species is possible. Currently countries such as Japan, Norway and Iceland use various exemptions to the ban such as scientific research to justify ongoing whaling.
The question I raised in a blog just after the last IWC meeting was are we were seeing the end of the IWC as we currently know it. I think this move by the Japanese and pro-whaling nations is the next step to the break up of the IWC. The IWC was set up to oversee whaling activities and manage a sustainable whaling industry, however it has now effectively turned into a whale conservation organisation, something it was never meant to be. It’s quite logical therefore for countries that want to operate a sustainable hunt to leave and organise themselves.
I’m not a fan of whale hunting and the sooner it ends the better but I can not help but think that the anti-whaler countries and groups shot themselves in the foot at the last meeting. There was a compromise option on the cards which they refused to accept. Had they allowed a limited amount of whaling then whaling would have died out naturally in a few years.
At the moment the whaling nations support their fleets with public money and subsidies (if not directly then through one form or another). Had the whaling fleets been given the opportunity to hunt commercially then this would have given the chance for the governments to stop public funding (we know Japan would have withdrawn subsidies and required the whalers to operate commercially). The marketplace for whale meat across the world is declining rapidly. Even in Japan the young people are refusing to buy whale meat so commercially the market is close to death. Most of the whaling fleet is coming to the end of their useful life and need to be replaced. Without public funding and with a declining market the operators would not invest in new shipping and equipment and over the course of 10 years or so whaling would effectively stop because of a lack of viability.
If this meeting is a step on the path of a new pro-whaling organisation that will compete against the established IWC then this changes things completely. It then becomes as much about political posturing as about commercial activity and public funds will keep the whaling fleets at seas for as long as it takes to prove a point.
I can not help but think that the status quo of the last meeting of the IWC is going to see a lot more whales killed in the long term as would have happened if a compromise had been reached.
- Japan to rally pro-whaling nations for ending ban (independent.co.uk)
- Head of IWC optimistic on whaling deal (sfgate.com)
- Whaling commission to seek way out of deadlock (reuters.com)
