International Whaling Commission Debates Irish & Makah Whaling Proposals

by Nathan LaBudde
International Marine Mammal Project

MONACO - The 1997 meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) last October brought together 32 nations to debate the future of whaling. At particular issue were two proposals that threaten to erode the IWC's current global moratorium on commercial whaling.

The IWC, which governs international whaling activities, banned commercial whaling in 1986, while allowing for limited aboriginal subsistence whaling by several nations. But while the moratorium remains in place, not all commercial whaling has ended.

The talks opened just as Japan held a much-publicized sale of minke whale meat taken during it's annual Antarctic whale hunt. Japan's whalers currently kill 440 minke whales per year in the IWC's newly created Southern Ocean Sanctuary courtesy of an IWC loophole that permits "scientific research whaling." Norway continues to escalate it's illegal commercial slaughter of North Atlantic minke whales by increasing it's self-allotted annual kill quota for each of the last four years.

As if this continued hunting was not enough of a problem, conservationists and some IWC delegations expressed growing concern that ocean pollution, collapsing fisheries, ozone depletion and other threats, were putting increasing pressure on depleted whale populations.

The Irish Proposal
In an attempt to break the current impasse between the Save-the-Whales and the Harpoon-the-Whales factions, a new initiative, called the Irish Proposal, was put forward for discussion. This plan declared the world's oceans as a global whale sanctuary, banned all international trade in whale products, and ordered a phase-out the scientific whaling loophole. Unfortunately, the proposal also allowed a resumption of commercial whaling under IWC-approved limits within the exclusive 200-mile zones of coastal states. Under the Irish Proposal, Norway and Japan would be permitted to continue killing whales and while other nations - such as Russia, Philippines and Taiwan - would be allowed to resume whaling operations.

Critics of the Irish Proposal were quick to point out that the so-called "ocean sanctuary" was merely a sham since many of the world's migrating whales and at some time or another pass within a 200-mile coastal range of land. Delegates from New Zealand, UK, US and Brazil spoke openly of the risks of following a course to re-open commercial whaling. No formal action was taken by the IWC this year and it is sure to be a hot topic at next year's meeting. Meanwhile, the Norwegian and Japanese delegates (and a block of Caribbean nations who have in recent years sided with Japan) have pressed for a special meeting on the Irish Proposal in advance of the next IWC gathering.

New Whale Meat Studies
New DNA whale meat studies by the environmental group Earthtrust in conjunction with Harvard University were presented to the IWC Infractions Committee. The replicated the DNA in whale meat sold in Japanese markets to create "molecular snapshots." Studies showed that meat from highly threatened whales species supposedly protected by the IWC (including blue, fin, and orca whale) are being sold in Japan. The findings suggest that illegal importation and pirate whaling have not ceased.

For years, Japan has attempted to explain away the incriminating presence of endangered whale with the "Old Meat" alibi - i.e., that any endangered whale products currently found in Japanese markets came from freezers stocked with old whale meat caught prior to the 1989 IWC ban. Japan, however, has never produced evidence that these decade-old frozen stockpiles of endangered whale meat actually exist.

The same studies also show an alarming rise in the percentage of small cetaceans being sold to the Japanese public as kujira (whale meat). As much as 30 percent of whale meat sold in Japan may in fact be mislabeled dolphin meat originating from Japanese fisheries like those at Futo Bay [Winter '96-97 EIJ] and the Dall's porpoise harpoon fishery on Japan's Sanriku Coast.

The practice of selling dolphin meat as whale meat -at prices of up to $300 dollars a pound - signals a dangerous trend for dolphins. Humans are also at risk since, unlike Antarctic minke whale, meat from Japanese coastal dolphins contains extremely high levels of bioaccumulating toxins such as heavy metals and organochlorines.

The Makah Whale Hunt Proposal
For the second consecutive year, the US pushed a scheme to grant the Washington state's Makah Indian Tribe an exemption allowing the kill of four California gray whales per year under the IWC's aboriginal subsistence exemption. This came despite a strong opposition from various IWC delegations, environmental groups, members of the US Congress and some Makah tribal elders.

In recent years, a powerful Makah faction has pressed for a resumption of whaling under the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay, despite the fact that the Makah have not hunted gray whales in over 70 years and have no demonstrated nutritional need for whale meat.

In 1996, the IWC turned down the Makah appeal following opposition testimony of a core group of Makah elders who spoke out in opposition to the hunt. The IWC determined that the hunt was not rooted in aboriginal or cultural need.

Sensing an early and certain defeat, the US delegation attempted to marry the unpopular Makah proposal with a separate Russian proposal to help the starving Bering Strait Chukotka tribe to kill 145 gray whales. While this strategy was successful, the majority of IWC delegates were quick to condemn US attempts to legitimize Makah whaling by equating it with the critical survival needs of the Chukotka.

Despite US delegation's attempts to spin the decision as signaling full approval for the Makah hunt, the reality is that for the second year in a row the IWC officially failed to recognize any legitimate need for the Makah hunt. Absent such recognition, allowing the hunt to go on would not violate the IWC's rules.

Makah whaling spokespeople have stated that they intend to begin the hunt as early as the fall of 1998. If the Makah whalers attempt to carry out such a hunt, the Clinton/Gore administration most likely will be facing a legal showdown in US courts.

What You Can Do: Urge President Clinton to oppose the Makah hunt and the Irish Proposal and to impose economic sanctions against Japan and Norway under the Pelly Amendment. For more information contact IMMP c/o Earth Island [(415) 788-3666, fax: (415) 788-7324, nathan@earthisland.org] or visit the EII website at: www.earthisland.org.