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Close call: Whalers fail at IWC!
Greenpeace announces return to Southern Ocean to oppose "science" hunt
16 June 2006
During the first vote on the opening day of the Conference, Japan moved
to have any reference for a discussion on conservation of small
cetaceans (dolphins and porpoises) to be struck from the agenda. The
motion was defeated 32 votes to 30. The second and deciding vote on
Japan’s call for secret ballots was defeated by 33 votes to 30. This
means the whalers have stumbled in their bid to take over the IWC.
Shane Rattenbury, head of our Oceans Campaign and leader of our Southern Ocean expedition earlier this year, was at the IWC in St Kitts. “Whaling history may not have been rewritten this year but it was too close for comfort. The anti-whaling countries must see this as a wake-up call and add action to their rhetoric about protecting whales,” he challenged. "We’re going back to the Southern Ocean to oppose the hunt. What are anti-whaling nations going to do to stop the hunt?"
“For twenty years the Government of Japan has kept the whaling fleet on life support under the guise of science, its time to face the fact that the whaling industry is dead in the water. It is time to stop the hunt,” added Shane.
But the battle isn't over - this year 935 minke whales – and 10 endangered fin whales – will be on the scientific menu. The results of this “science” are chopped and boxed for market on the “research” ship the Nisshin Maru.
This year we will once again challenge the whalers on the high seas, the question is what are the anti-whaling countries prepared to do?
We will continue to show the world what the whalers don't want you to see: the brutal reality of whaling. We will continue to peacefully put our lives on the line to protect individual whales from their harpoons. And we will continue to hold the anti-whaling countries to account until they take strong action to end whaling.
In the meantime, you can:
UPDATE: But we lost this
one...
By a vote of 33 to 32 with one abstention, the IWC adopted on Sunday something called "The St. Kitts Declaration" which lays out the whalers' case for a return to whaling, and declares a commitment to "normalize" the functions of the IWC. Aside from, de facto, declaring a commitment to end the moratorium on commercial whaling, its most significant implication is that it will be used to say that the IWC has accepted the whalers' argument that whales are eating too many fish. Which means that the resumption of whaling will be said to be a matter of food security for coastal nations: i.e. since fish stocks are dwindling, and whales eat fish, we therefore must kill more whales. We say blaming whales for the massive fisheries depletions in the world today is like saying woodpeckers are the cause of deforestation.
By a vote of 33 to 32 with one abstention, the IWC adopted on Sunday something called "The St. Kitts Declaration" which lays out the whalers' case for a return to whaling, and declares a commitment to "normalize" the functions of the IWC. Aside from, de facto, declaring a commitment to end the moratorium on commercial whaling, its most significant implication is that it will be used to say that the IWC has accepted the whalers' argument that whales are eating too many fish. Which means that the resumption of whaling will be said to be a matter of food security for coastal nations: i.e. since fish stocks are dwindling, and whales eat fish, we therefore must kill more whales. We say blaming whales for the massive fisheries depletions in the world today is like saying woodpeckers are the cause of deforestation.
Shane Rattenbury, head of our Oceans Campaign and leader of our Southern Ocean expedition earlier this year, was at the IWC in St Kitts. “Whaling history may not have been rewritten this year but it was too close for comfort. The anti-whaling countries must see this as a wake-up call and add action to their rhetoric about protecting whales,” he challenged. "We’re going back to the Southern Ocean to oppose the hunt. What are anti-whaling nations going to do to stop the hunt?"
Scientific sushi
With a simple majority at the Commission, Japan would not have been able to overturn the commercial moratorium on whaling but it could have wreaked havoc with the IWC’s measure to protect whales. It could have instigated secret ballots, forced a resolution endorsing its “scientific” whaling program and called for on the Convention for the Trade in endangered Species (CITES) to lift its ban on the trade in minke whales. Already our ship had been denied access to St Kitts under the excuse of “national security issues”.“For twenty years the Government of Japan has kept the whaling fleet on life support under the guise of science, its time to face the fact that the whaling industry is dead in the water. It is time to stop the hunt,” added Shane.
But the battle isn't over - this year 935 minke whales – and 10 endangered fin whales – will be on the scientific menu. The results of this “science” are chopped and boxed for market on the “research” ship the Nisshin Maru.
The price of “science”
For years Japan has been trying overturn the 1986 IWC moratorium on commercial whaling with a vote buying program aimed at developing nations. But one of our blog readers from St Kitts says, “I don’t think Japan's bribe is going to save lives in St. Kitts …. As a developing nation with emphasis on eco tourism, and also whale watching - yes whale watching - right in the channel between St. Kitts and Nevis. This selling of our vote to Japan is a travesty and will haunt Kittians and Nevisians for decades to come."This year we will once again challenge the whalers on the high seas, the question is what are the anti-whaling countries prepared to do?
We will continue to show the world what the whalers don't want you to see: the brutal reality of whaling. We will continue to peacefully put our lives on the line to protect individual whales from their harpoons. And we will continue to hold the anti-whaling countries to account until they take strong action to end whaling.
In the meantime, you can:
- Sign up as an Ocean Defender to be kept up to date on our campaign to defend whales and our oceans
- Ask a friend to sign up and take action
- Check out the weblog for the latest news and behind the scenes info!
Check out the weblog
