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Dear Friends of Whales:
Details are sketchy, but it appears that IWC Chairman Dr. William Hogarth, a member of the US delegation, has cut some kind of deal with the government of Japan to bring back commercial whaling.
As you know, last fall Dr. Hogarth reached an agreement with the Japanese government for their whalers to refrain from killing 50 humpback whales under scientific permit until the June meeting of the IWC in Chile. (However, Japan is still hunting minke and fin whales under scientific permit.)
At first Dr. Hogarth insisted that there was “no deal,” but it now appears that Dr. Hogarth is recommending that some kind of “special permits” be issued to Japan to switch to commercial whaling. These permits would be for whale stocks which, based on the “best science”, can absorb harvest. In turn, Japan would cease using the scientific loophole in the IWC to issue permits. It is not clear how this will work in Antarctica — there have been some rumors that a deal would include no whaling in current IWC sanctuaries, but Dr. Hogarth has apparently not made that claim. The deal may also include some kind of IWC support for a quota for coastal whaling by Japan, which, as you know, already includes the cruel and unsustainable slaughter of thousands of dolphins annually. While Dr. Hogarth insists that under this new scheme, fewer whales will be killed by Japan, it is not hard to see that Japan would push in the future to increase the killing, and other nations as well would likely push for their own “special permits”. It is also not clear how trade in whale products, currently prohibited, might be affected.
It is not clear who else supports this new scheme, including within the Bush Administration itself. But I believe that, at a time when Japan is under more pressure than ever before to end all whaling, Dr. Hogarth and the Bush Administration are working to bail out the Japanese government and allow commercial whaling to once again be legal.
The IWC will meet next week in London to discuss how to “fix” the IWC. While it is likely that no votes will be held, I again suspect that if Japan and Dr. Hogarth feel that they have a majority vote present, they might well adopt this scheme, rather than wait for governments to have second thoughts over the scheme until the IWC meets in Chile in June.
I encourage NGO’s to contact your government delegations to the IWC to oppose a return to commercial whaling under the guise of “normalizing” the IWC with “special permits” for the Japan Fisheries Agency.
Please help spread the word!
-- Mark J. Palmer
From FISHING NEWS INTERNATIONAL www.fishingnewsinternational.com (subscription site)
Move to bring back whaling — as Japan suspends humpback hunt
February 2008
JAPAN has decided to hold off off on its decision to hunt 50 humpback
whales during the 2008 research whaling season — provided the International
Whaling Commission (IWC) moves towards a ‘normalization’ of
whaling, reports Tom Seaman.
Joji Morishita, director for international negotiations for Japan’s Fisheries Agency, says he would like to see this move spark off greater dialogue within the IWC that could lead to a return to sustainable whaling by quota.
“We have made a concession and we would like to see this set off a chain reaction of greater dialogue and compromise in the IWC. All we have had before is mutual criticism.
“If it results in more pressure from the other side at the next IWC meeting, that will make the situation worse.”
During recent negotiations between IWC chairman Bill Hogarth and Japan, it was agreed that the humpback harvest would be postponed, at least until the next annual IWC meeting to held in June 2008 in Chile.
Masahiko Koumura, Japan’s minister for foreign affairs, says Bill Hogarth contacted Japan’s IWC representatives, stating he feels the commission is not functioning correctly and that the situation needs to be remedied.
“Mr. Hogarth requested that Japan reviewed its plan to catch humpback whales while such a reform is going on.”
“Japan has decided to postpone its catch of this species while the IWC is judged to move towards a normalization of its activities.”
By normalization, Japan means a return to the commercial harvest of whales by quota backed up with scientific stocks assessments.
Joji Morishita says that, although the humpback was classed as an endangered species when the moratorium was placed on commercial whaling in 1985/86, scientific consensus is that populations have been steadily increasing.
He says that increases could be as much as 10% annually, with similar population trends in fin whales.
“This does not mean that we want to take all we can; we are committed to a return to sustainable, scientifically regulated whaling,” he tells FNI.
Following the suspension of the humpback hunt, this year’s research whaling trip will see the planned harvest of 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales.
Meanwhile, the Australian customs ship Oceanic Viking has left for the whaling grounds in a 20-day whale monitoring mission.
Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith says that the mission will be supported by aerial surveillance, with the aim of gathering evidence for a possible court case against Japan.
Joji Morishita says: “It is interesting. We have been providing all the information, scientific papers from the findings, samples and what we’ve caught and where.
“What more information do they want or expect to find? If they are looking for photos, I’m sure Greenpeace have taken better ones than they will ever get.
“It’s well known that the Australian government has made election promises, including doing something like this.”
It has been reported that Japan is planning to replace the whaling fleet’s mother ship Nisshin Maru. Joji Morishita says he can neither confirm nor deny this rumor.
“Nisshin Maru is old and has had two fires, so something does need to be done, but there are always these rumours about a new ship.”