Japan's attempt to overturn commercial whaling ban fails

Anti-whaling nations defeat proposals that would have allowed for the return of hunts
Fiona Harvey The Guardian 14 Sep 18;

An attempt to overturn the decades-old global ban on commercial whaling has failed, to the relief of conservationists.

Anti-whaling nations defeated by a decisive margin proposals from the Japanese government that would have allowed for the return of whale hunts.

The vote, on the last day of this year’s meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Brazil, was hailed by campaigners as a sign that pro-whaling nations will not be allowed to weaken global resolve to protect threatened species.

Kitty Block, president of the animal charity Humane Society International, said: “It is an immense relief that the IWC’s moral compass has led it to reject Japan’s reckless and retrograde attempt to bring back commercial whaling. What Japan tried to do here was to bend and break the rules of the IWC to lift an internationally agreed ban on killing whales for profit. It deserved to fail; the world has moved on from commercial whaling, and so must Japan. We hope that the IWC can now get on with the business of protecting these ocean leviathans from the myriad other threats they face.”

Nicolas Entrup of OceanCare added: “Resuming to grant commercial whaling quotas would consequently also lead to a removal of the international trade ban in products from those whale species, as both conservation instruments – the whaling ban and the trade ban – are interlinked. We cannot allow opening Pandora’s box to see whales killed in even higher numbers while being so close to phasing out this unnecessary and cruel activity. We are relieved that the IWC today prevented this dangerous blow to the moratorium.”

Some observers suggested Japan could seek to leave the IWC, though this would be controversial. The vote, in which 41 governments defeated 27, also revealed a substantial minority of nations prepared to side with Japan. Many of these have no whaling interests of their own but have political allegiances with Tokyo for other reasons.

Earlier in the week, the meeting also rejected calls for a sanctuary for whales to be set up in the south Atlantic. Pro-whaling nations argued there was no need for it.

However, the IWC at the meeting adopted a new declaration crafted by Brazil and named after the city of the meeting, Florianopolis, that restated the global commitment to the protection of whales and the ongoing need to push positive conservation measures beyond the longstanding moratorium.

This is seen as a way to update the mission of the 72-year-old organisation to bring it further into line with modern conservation principles.

Under the IWC ban, which has been in operation since 1984, no commercial whaling can take place – but there are a few loopholes. Norway and Iceland continue to defy the moratorium through technical objections, and Japan circumvents the ban by conducting whale hunts for scientific research. Russia also has a form of exemption from the ban that it does not exercise, and a few indigenous groups are granted rights for subsistence whaling.

The ongoing tensions at the IWC demonstrate the difficulties of global conservation, even over iconic species.


Japan's commercial whaling bid rejected by IWC
Denis BARNETT AFP Yahoo News 15 Sep 18;

Florianopolis (Brazil) (AFP) - Japan's determined bid to return to commercial whale hunting was rejected by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Friday in a tense vote that exposed a deep split in the 72-year old organization.

Japan's vice-minister for fisheries Masaaki Taniai said he regretted the vote's outcome, and threatened Tokyo's withdrawal from the 89-member body if progress could not be made towards a return to commercial whaling.

"If scientific evidence and diversity is not respected, if commercial whaling is completely denied ... Japan will be pressed to undertake a fundamental reassessment of its position as a member of the IWC," he said.

Anti-whaling nations led by Australia, the European Union and the United States, defeated Japan's "Way Forward" proposal in a 41 to 27 vote.

Japan had sought consensus for its plan but had been forced to push the proposal to a vote "to demonstrate the resounding voices of support" for a return to sustainable whaling for profit, said Taniai.

Pacific and Caribbean island nations as well as Nicaragua and several African countries, including Morocco, Kenya and Tanzania, voted with Japan, as did Asian nations Laos and Cambodia. Korea abstained.

- 'Sharp split' -

The Russian Federation, which like several states allows aboriginal subsistence whaling, said it abstained because "this vote showed a sharp split within the Commission. Our worry is not to split the Commission too far and that's why we abstained."

The IWC was set up in 1946 to conserve and manage the world's whale and cetacean population. It introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 after some species had been fished to near extinction. Japan insists whale stocks have sufficiently recovered to allow commercial hunting to resume.

Tokyo currently observes the moratorium but exploits a loophole to kill hundreds of whales every year for "scientific purposes" as well as to sell the meat.

Norway and Iceland ignore the moratorium and are key supporters of Japan's bid to resume commercial whaling.

A Japanese withdrawal would have far-reaching consequences for the organization, given support from a growing number of developing states in the IWC.

They say the IWC's mandate is both to conserve and manage -- meaning to sustainably hunt -- recovering whale stocks, but that the emphasis within the organization has leant too far towards conservation, leaving pro-whaling nations without a voice.

Taniai said the vote result "can be seen as equivalent to the denial of the possibility for governments with different views to coexist with mutual understanding and respect within the IWC."

Australia's commissioner Nick Gales rejected "the narrative of underlying dysfunction and intolerance" suggested by Japan.

He urged Tokyo to remain in the organization "to continue to argue for its view and work constructively with all members."

- Way Forward or Way Out -

Japan's "Way Forward" including the establishment of a "Sustainable Whaling Committee" within the IWC, and a "Diplomatic Conference of Contracting Governments" to amend the body's voting rules, changing them from requiring a two-thirds majority to a simple majority.

Anti-whaling NGOs cheered the result, but it seems clear from the week-long meeting in the surfing resort of Florianopolis that Japan's impatience with its fellow members in a sharply divided IWC is growing.

Kitty Block, head of the animal charity Humane Society International, said "the IWC's moral compass" had led it to reject Japan's proposal.

"It's clear from exchanges this week that those countries here fighting for the protection of whales are not prepared to have the IWC's progressive conservation agenda held hostage to Japan's unreasonable whaling demands."

To add insult to injury from Japan's point of view, the IWC adopted Brazil's "Florianopolis Declaration" which envisages whale protection in perpetuity.

And Glenn Inwood, of Opes Oceani, a company that analyses developments in the use of ocean resources, says there is no longer much of an economic or political case for Japan remaining in the body.

"Japan invests tens of millions of dollars each year into its whaling activities but gains very little from the IWC despite being its biggest benefactor," said Inwood, a former spokesman for the Japanese delegation.

Support in the wake of Friday's vote "is increasingly difficult to justify," he said.

"We learned from the United States' decision on the Paris Accord that countries are willing to revisit support for international agreements that aren't in sync with their national interests.”