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| Banner Photography: © Claire Bass / EIA |
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IWC 60
The 60th meeting of the International Whaling Commission was held in Santiago, Chile in June of 2008. The meeting was, for the most part, characterized by a tone of non-confrontation: resolutions and proposed schedule amendments were kept to a minimum to avoid conflict. This spirit resulted in the withdrawal of several proposals, including one for the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary and Japan’s perennial proposal for coastal whaling.
Denmark (on behalf of Greenland), however, decided to keep its controversial schedule amendment active. The request was for an addition of 10 humpback whales annual to their current annual quotas of 212 minke whales, 8 fin whales, and 2 bowhead whales. After lengthy discussion of the scientific committee’s recommendations, Greenland’s needs statement, conversion factors and the recently-revealed commerciality of Greenland’s whale meat trade, the proposal was defeated.
The strength and cohesion of the Latin American bloc of countries was evident in their frequent and articulate statements in support of whale protections and conservation, a side presentation made on whale watching in their region and the video prepared in support of the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary. On one of the days of the meeting, Chile’s president Michelle Bachelet traveled to one of Chile’s now defunct whaling stations (closed in 1967) to declare the coastal waters of Chile a permanent whale sanctuary.
For the first time ever in the Commission’s history, NGOs were given a chance to address the body. This is a small step towards modernizing the convention and bringing civil society participation into the discussions.
Discussions about the future of the organization were mainly to do with adjusting Commission procedure; a small working group of 24 nations will work on assembling a compromise package of the most contentious issues facing the Commission which will be presented for consideration in Madeira, Portugal in 2009. The hope is that there will be consensus amongst member nations to come to agreement on some of the issues which have divided the Commission over the years. Among the 24 nations are Antigua & Barbuda, Chile, Brasil, Denmark, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, United States, Palau, St Kitts and Nevis, and South Africa. The group will meet at least once prior to the full Commission meeting in Madeira.
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