International Whaling Conference To Begin

The Ocean Conservancy
Monday, 20 May 2002

Japan continues to defy international treaty without consequence

Today in Shimonoseki, Japan marks the beginning of the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) annual meeting. As delegates from over 40 nations gather in a country that continues whale hunts under the guise of scientific research, Japan has gone one step further in perpetuating their defiance of the international moratorium on whale hunting. In March of this year, the Japanese government flaunted its plan to import up to one hundred tons of Norwegian minke whale meat to sell on the open market.

Defying the international treaty and criticism from nations throughout the world, Japan continues to kill whales in the northwest Pacific, and has recently increased its quota to include 150 minke whales, 50 Bryde's whales, 10 sperm whales, and 50 endangered sei whales. Japan also kills 440 minke whales in Antarctic waters each year.

A provision in the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling allows nations special permits to kill or "take" whales for the purpose of scientific research. This killing is exempt from the Convention regulations. "This provision provides a loophole for Japan to undertake, what is in truth, commercial whaling," says Cynthia Taylor, Marine Mammal Specialist for The Ocean Conservancy attending this week's meetings.

Since its founding, 30 years ago, The Ocean Conservancy (formerly the Center for Marine Conservation) has opposed commercial whaling. We worked aggressively to secure the international moratorium on commercial whaling and have sought to maintain that moratorium since 1986. The Ocean Conservancy opposes the killing of whales, dolphins, and porpoises for commercial and scientific purposes.

The IWC has repeatedly stated that Japan's killing of whales for research does not provide scientific data that cannot be collected through non-lethal techniques. "All scientific research should be conducted using non-lethal methods to the greatest extent possible," notes Taylor, adding that lethal research should be undertaken only "after the methods have been thoroughly reviewed and approved by both the Scientific Committee and the IWC."

Japanese officials contend that lethal research is needed. Bryde's whales, which consume large amounts of anchovies, are harming Japan's anchovy fishery, and the Japanese contend that the only way to find a solution is to dissect the whales' stomachs.

Commercial and "research" whaling escalated from 556 minke whales in 1993 to 1255 minke, Brydes, and sperm whales in 2000. Furthermore, Japan, Norway, and Iceland are pushing to lift the moratorium and resume commercial whaling. Other nations, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, have announced that they are ethically opposed to, and will never support the resumption of, commercial whaling.

The Ocean Conservancy believes that the 1946 Convention must be brought into line with modern international treaties. We intend to continue to work to modernize the Convention to broaden its mandate to include small cetaceans, close the loopholes of scientific whaling and reservations, develop a research program for environmental threats, provide guidelines for whale watching, investigate the human health aspects of consuming cetacean meat, and develop comprehensive controls on all forms of killing.

For more information, or to contact The Ocean Conservancy, see their website at: www.oceanconservancy.org