Japan's defence of its "scientific" whaling

[John Gulliver]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/...20050621a2.htm

[Allan Carr]

That's a bit rich - comparing whales with cattle! I'm sure the statistical argument about needing to catch 440 Minke whales per year is spurious. Much of the research could be done by tagging and tracking rather than killing. Also, the cruelty invoved in killing a whale is far greater than the considerably more humane methods used to kill most farm animals - though the slaughter techniques demanded by some religions are pretty brutal.

Their argument doesn't convince me one little bit.

[Mr T.]

10:05pm (UK)

Dominica Denies Selling Whaling Vote for Aid from Japan

Dominica denied it has sold its vote to overturn a commercial whaling ban in exchange for aid from Japan, an official said today, as countries gathered for the International Whaling Commission meeting in South Korea.

In recent years, small Caribbean countries have backed Japan on the vast majority of whaling votes, especially attempts to overturn the ban.

This year, “Dominica will vote for the sustainable use of a resource if it is in abundance,” said the former British Caribbean colony’s chief fisheries officer Harold Guiste.

“Dominica is not voting for Japan,” Guiste added, denying allegations that Japan had financed two multimillion-dollar fishing complexes on the island in exchange for Dominica’s support.

The IWC was established for “the regulation of whaling and not for a ban,” he said.

Greenpeace, the Amsterdam-based environmental organisation, has accused Japan of buying the votes of needy nations.

Japan “offers fisheries aid to poor coastal countries in exchange for their support of Japan’s whaling policies. Kind of like throwing lunch money around to avoid being the loser in the school yard”, Greenpeace said, in a July 2004 report.

Greenpeace alleged that Japan had “bought 16 friends at the IWC in this way,” including six Caribbean countries, the Solomon Islands, and Guinea.

In Dominica, where tourists go to watch humpback whales frolic offshore, the environment minister resigned in 2000 to protest policies he said were bought with Japanese aid.

The Cambridge-based IWC banned commercial hunts in 1986, handing environmentalists a major victory in protecting species that were near extinction after centuries of whaling.

According to the IWC voting system, tiny, often poor countries have as much power as larger countries such as France and the US.

Members of the delegations of Dominica, and Antigua & Barbuda on Sunday claimed non-governmental organisations and some governments had tried to intimidate them into changing their anti-whaling ban position.

Both countries voted with Japan during early procedural motions on the agenda. The motions to delete discussion of whale sanctuaries from the five-day meeting in Seoul, Korea, and to hold secret balloting were narrowly defeated.

Japan and its allies would need a three-fourths majority of the 66-member IWC to overturn the ban on commercial whaling.

Other Caribbean islands which have consistently voted with Japan are Grenada, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. St. Vincent is the only Caribbean country allowed to hunt whales, where a small group of hunters carries on the tradition off the small island of Bequia.

[Mr T.]

Pro-whaling bloc loses first vote



By Richard Black
BBC Environment correspondent, Ulsan, South Korea


The annual meeting is a clash of positions and cultures

Pro-whaling nations have lost two early votes as this year's International Whaling Commission meeting began.

Conservationists feared Japan, boosted by four new members, might be able to command a pro-whaling majority.

But Japan lost votes on a proposal to ban the discussion of new whale sanctuaries, and a procedural motion.

But a number of controversial proposals remain on the table, such as abandoning the IWC's programme on whale welfare, which looks at killing methods.

If Japan is unable to command a majority here, as it had hoped, it could play its final card and leave the IWC altogether.

This option would have far reaching implications for conservation and perhaps for Japan's relations with other countries such as Australia and Britain with whom it is generally on friendly terms.

Conservation groups are concerned at the impact on whales and their close relatives such as dolphins and porpoises.


Find out about the different endangered whale species.

In graphics

"The vote has been on a knife-edge for a couple of years, and we've been wondering at what point the simple majority would fall towards the whalers," Mark Simmonds, director of science for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, told BBC News.

"And with these four new countries coming in, it could really be that they've got it at this point."

The IWC's four new members are Cameroon, Gambia, Nauru and Togo.

Although there is no indication yet of which way they will vote, conservation groups allege that Japan has a history of effectively buying the votes of developing countries through foreign aid.

HAVE YOUR SAY
Japan should have the freedom to hunt whatever they like within their borders


Jay



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That view was challenged by Yoshimasa Hayashi, a member of Japan's upper house.

"Japanese ODA [Overseas Development Aid] is decided by the government by consultation with the ruling party, and that doesn't include anything about a pro- or anti-whaling stance," he told BBC News.

In fact, he said, nations which oppose whaling, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, recruit their allies into the IWC.

"Hungary and Czech Republic have no history of whaling, and they joined IWC after the moratorium."

'Research killing'

The moratorium, and what should come after it, is the really big issue facing IWC delegates.

It came into effect in 1986 after research showed that whale stocks worldwide were in serious decline, as a result of unregulated catches for meat and oil.

Japan abides by the moratorium on commercial whaling, but catches around 800 of the mammals each year for a programme of "scientific research", as it is allowed to under the international whaling convention.

Japanese ODA [Overseas Development Aid] is decided by the government by consultation with the ruling party, and that doesn't include anything about a pro- or anti-whaling stance


Yoshimasa Hayashi, a member of Japan's upper house

The meat from those whales ends up in the stomachs of Japanese people; and critics say the scientific programme is just commercial whaling in disguise.

Iceland runs a similar, much smaller scheme, whereas Norway objected to the moratorium when it came into place, and catches several hundred whales each year.

The moratorium was seen as a stop-gap measure when it came into place, and since 1990 discussions have been going on about a replacement, the Revised Management Scheme (RMS), which would allow some degree of commercial hunting on a sustainable basis.

A version of the RMS will be proposed at this year's meeting; but Japan is expected to reject several of its components, such as what it regards as an over-zealous inspection regime, and present its own version instead.

Changes afoot?

Overturning the moratorium and adopting the RMS would require a three-quarters majority, and Japan is extremely unlikely to command that level of support.

But a simple majority would permit significant changes to the way the IWC works, and, therefore, to whaling regulations.

"Japan has indicated that it will delete from the agenda the issue of small cetaceans - such as dolphins and porpoises - and in fact the IWC is a very important source of advice on these animals," said Mark Simmonds.

WHALING SINCE THE BAN

Japan, Norway and Iceland have killed more than 25,000 whales since the IWC moratorium took effect in 1986
Most whales are killed with harpoons designed to explode inside them, though small traditional coastal communities use other methods
Whalers say unconsciousness or death is near instantaneous; opponents say some whales can take over an hour to die

Currently these creatures are not regulated by the IWC, but its scientists study them - which Japan says is outside the commission's remit.

"They can issue resolutions in favour of things which hitherto the commission would not have been in favour of; for example, a majority could congratulate Japan on its so-called scientific research programme," added Dr Simmonds.

Japan has also said it will delete agenda items relating to welfare - such as killing methods - whale-watching, and the creation of new sanctuaries.

It also plans to introduce secret ballots, and could theoretically force non-governmental conservation groups out of the meetings.

Many of those conservation groups believe the situation for whales and related species is more serious now that at any time before the moratorium was imposed.

The IWC's four new members will not be allowed to vote unless they have paid their subscriptions; conservation groups are hoping that Cameroon, Gambia and Nauru and Togo have left their cheque books at home, and bought cetaceans a year's grace.

[Mr T.]

Japanese furious as attempt to resume whaling founders

JAMES REYNOLDS
ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT

JAPAN has lambasted anti-whaling nations following a rejection of its proposal to resume limited commercial hunting and hostile criticism of its supposedly "scientific" harvesting plans.

The country had sought the approval of the 66-member International Whaling Commission for a management scheme it said would promote sustainable commercial whaling, but critics said that the plan was riddled with holes and would allow for more whales to be killed.

The proposal failed to gain the three-quarters majority of the IWC required to approve major policy changes. It was lost by 29 votes to 23, with five abstentions.

"The whole process has been a charade where anti-whaling nations have stalled implementation of an RMS [revised management scheme] for more than ten years," said Minoru Morimoto, the head of Japan's delegation.

There is also a worry that, although Japan has failed to win a 75 per cent majority, it may yet reach a simple majority of more than 50 per cent.

While this would still not allow it to move forward with its plans, it would indicate a radical turnaround for the IWC, being the first time since the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling that more than 50 per cent have voted against its continuance.

Whether this less significant majority will be reached rests on three nations, Toga, Nauru and Gambia, which do not have a vote, either because they have not paid their dues or because their delegates have yet to arrive at the IWC meeting in Ulsan, in Korea, a former whaling port.

When they fulfil their obligations, which are likely to be completed in the next couple of days, they are then expected to vote with Japan, bringing about the simple majority.

Environmentalists fear that pro-whaling nations such as Japan and Norway may try to roll back conservation measures if they can swing a majority at the commission, and critics accused Tokyo of delaying tactics.

Ian Campbell, Australia's environment minister and a fierce critic of Japan's intentions, said: "The pro-whale slaughtering nations are using every tactical method they can to slow down any substantive vote until the new members arrive. It is becoming farcical."

Australia's hopes of proposing an early resolution criticising Japan's announcement that it plans to almost double its annual scientific catch of minke whales from 440 to 850 were scrapped due to proceedings Australia saw as slow.

Japan's well-flagged plan to dramatically expand its research programme also includes hunting ten fin whales a year for the first two years, although it says it will not hunt humpback whales for another two years.

Australia, New Zealand and other anti-whaling nations have been highly critical of the plan, and conservation groups said the programme was actually commercial whaling in the guise of science.

However, any resolution on Japan's scientific whaling would have no impact on the programme as it is not regulated by the IWC.

[rickles23]

Here in Aus at the moment there is Migaloo swimming along the east coast, heading north.

The Japanese Embassy has been inundated with emails and phone calls about what would happen if any whaling ships are sighted near this unusual humpback.