IWC meeting ends in deadlock

IWC meeting ends in deadlock

The annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ended a day early at the Casino Park Hotel on the island of Madeira in Portugal, with no agreement on the future of the IWC and no end in sight to whaling.

IWC chief William Hogarth said: “If we don’t have answers by 2010, I think a lot of countries will be looking for another way to solve this.”

Hogarth has warned that global whale stocks are in bad shape and 40,000 whales have been killed worldwide despite the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling that came into effect in 1986.
Japan and other pro-whaling countries argue that many species are abundant enough to continue hunting them – Japan’s kill is more than 12,000 whales a year.

Spokesperson Jemma Miller said the IWC was at a crossroads, beset by fundamental disagreements as to its nature and purpose. A three-quarter majority vote is required for major changes to the IWC and its membership is split 50-50 between whaling nations and their supporters and anti-whaling nations.

A spokesman for the Japanese delegation told Reuters that failure to reach agreement could eventually lead to a collapse of the IWC and that Australia, a key anti-whaling nation, had “brought nothing to the table and all it has done is dig its heels in on scientific whaling”.

In fact, Australia proved to be one of the few countries prepared to suggest a future for the IWC that was based on protecting whales, not commercial whaling. Environment Minister Peter Garrett announced a five-year non-lethal whale research commitment for the Australian-led Southern Ocean Research Partnership. Garrett said the option of taking legal action against Japan still remains open.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will be returning to the Southern Ocean in December for the 6th Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign. This year Sea Shepherd will be sending two ships: the upgraded and fully repaired Steve Irwin and the fast interceptor vessel Earthrace.
On board will be an Animal Planet film crew to document the 3rd season of Whale Wars.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s Captain Paul Watson was at the IWC meeting and filed this report:

“Japan’s crappy science arguments were hysterically funny. They actually insisted on showing a power point presentation of the analysis of the contents of whale entrails during the lunch hour.

“The only research that Japanese whalers are conducting is product development and marketing of whale meat research. African and Caribbean delegates were making good use of the funds slipped into their pockets by the Japanese in exchange for their votes; spending money on whores, the roulette table and big Cuban cigars, all under the pretence of regulating whaling.

“There was a lot of time wasted forcing a motion onto the floor to condemn Sea Shepherd. The motion was called Safety at Sea and accuses Sea Shepherd of being a threat to the safety of Japanese whalers. And the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is the only organization in the world banned from attending the IWC meetings.

“After dropping a few million dollars into the Madeiran economy, the IWC ended its lock-down of the five-star hotel and adjourned until next year’s scheduled meeting in Agadir, Morocco.”

For more information see http://www.seashepherd.org

– By Jeremy Brown

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