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| Banner Photography: © Claire Bass / EIA |
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IWC 61
The Small Working Group process, which was initiated in 2007 to guide the IWC through exploring and hopefully solving, some of the most divisive issues at the IWC was. Australia, which has brought several constructive suggestions to the Future of the IWC process, outlined how it would like to see special permits handled in the future: proposals should be derived from multilaterally identified research priorities, and should also be reviewed by the Scientific Committee. This need for a set of ‘best practices’ for special permit whaling found support among several other delegations, including the United States, New Zealand, Monaco, Mexico, Germany and Israel. Two small proposed changes in the text of the Resolution to continue the Future of the IWC process were suggested by the Czech Republic on behalf of the EU. After some discussion about the semantics, a modified version was adopted which commits the Commission to “intensify its efforts to conclude a package or packages by IWC62 (2010) at the latest”. The SWG will continue for another year with essentially the same terms of reference. The meetings will be open to observers, a Support Group to the Chair will be assembled, and the group will endeavor to devise a package by IWC62.
Discussion on Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling issues reviewed the Aboriginal Subsistence Committee report. Once again, Denmark on behalf of Greenland has requested a new quota of 10 humpbacks per year for the next 3 years, in addition to the quota of 200 minke, 19 fin and 2 bowhead whales it already has. In 2008, the request was denied, primarily on the basis that Greenland had not demonstrated the subsistence need for increased whale meat. Of concern was the fact whale meat was widely available in supermarkets and that the thousands of small cetaceans also killed by Greenland were not included in the needs statement. Greenland is the only Aboriginal Whaling territory that calculates its requests by tonnage, rather than by number of whales. Two papers were submitted to the Scientific Committee on the issue of conversion factors which Greenland uses to calculate its quota requests, however neither allowed the Committee to make a determination of the validity of the conversion factors in use by Greenland. Denmark gave a presentation similar to last year’s that described the practicalities of whaling in Greenland and explained that profit is not a driving motive behind their hunts, despite the fact that whale meat is widely available in supermarkets. Denmark also explained that environmental conditions lead to less than a maximum yield of meat from most animals. It was agreed that more information was necessary, and a vote was delayed until an intersesional meeting of the Commission, which is now likely to happen in March of 2010.
No proposal for a South Atlantic sanctuary was tabled this year in the spirit of supporting the Future of the IWC discussion. A good discussion about non-lethal use of whales in the form of whale watching was held, and the report from the Scientific Committee’s whale watching working group was adopted. Many delegations criticized the continuing large-scale kills of whales under special permits by Japan, stating that the scientific data can be collected by non-lethal means, the ‘sample sizes’ were unjustified and that no short-term objectives had been developed by which to judge the science. The new Chair of the Commission for the next three years will be Christian Maquieira from Chile with Anthony Liverpool from Antigua and Barbuda as Vice Chair.
NGOs were once more allowed to address the Commission, urging Commissioners to increase civil society participation, address wider environmental threats to whales and respect the indigenous rights of Aboriginal Subsistence whaling communities.
The Small Working Group will meet early in the New Year, which may also be followed by an intersessional meeting to discuss the Greenland proposal. Next year’s IWC meeting will be hosted by Morocco.
See here for the full report on the meeting from our partners at the Eastern Caribbean Coalition for Environmental Awareness.
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