Japan Loses First Tussle in Whaling Talks

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Japan Loses First Tussle in Whaling Talks

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ITALY: July 20, 2004

 

SORRENTO, Italy - Japan lost the first battle in a war

to turn back years of anti-hunting agreements at the

International Whaling Commission yesterday when

countries rejected its motion to hold votes in secret.

 

 

Conservation groups, which accuse Japan of enticing

developing countries to join the body and vote with

it, welcomed the outcome which indicated the majority

of the 57 members were still largely opposed to

whaling.

" It looks like the pro-conservation majority will hold

for another year, " said Susan Lieberman of the WWF,

but she added the majority might be as slim as just a

single vote as most of the newer member countries

would likely side with the hunters.

 

Anti-whalers say secret votes would let countries

proclaim their opposition to whaling in public while

cutting backroom deals to let it happen.

 

Japan, which views whaling as a noble tradition and

whale meat as a prized delicacy, lost the vote 29 to

24, with a handful of states barred from voting for

administrative reasons.

 

Japan and other whaling states like Norway and Iceland

want to overturn a ban on commercial whaling the IWC

imposed in 1986.

 

The body was created in 1946 to control what was then

a global industry and ensure whales were not hunted to

extinction.

 

JAPANESE PRESSURE

 

Japan believes there are plenty of some species of

whales. A Japanese delegate told Reuters if the IWC

does not replace the moratorium with a system of

sustainable whaling quotas by this time next year, it

will quit the group.

 

To make its point, it tabled a request to catch 2,914

minke whales from the Antarctic Ocean - declared a

whale sanctuary by the IWC.

 

It says the annual quota would be just 0.05 percent of

the population and no threat to the species. But at

current market prices it would be worth up to $300

million.

 

Japan already kills some 440 minkes there a year under

a clause allowing scientific research and the meat

ends up on the tables of restaurants and sushi bars

fetching $50 million. The request has no chance of

being granted as it needs 75 percent of the votes, but

it sets a direct challenge to the IWC to allow whaling

to resume if it can be shown to be sustainable.

 

Japan's pro-whaling stance is backed by many of the

developing nations at the IWC.

 

" We have been perplexed to realize that a whale that

consumes three-to-four times its own body weight

continues to be seen as a resource that should be

untouched by humans at a time that the nations of the

world strive to find food for their people, " the

representative of new member Suriname said.

 

" MONEY TALKS "

 

Conservation groups dismiss such arguments, saying

whales mostly feed in areas and on organisms not

fished by humans.

 

They accuse Japan of trying to buy votes among the

newer members. Four of the six states joining this

year, Tuvalu, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Suriname are

broadly in line with Japan's position.

 

" Some of the poorest developing countries in the world

are being used to vote in favor of whaling, " said

Greenpeace campaigner John Frizell. " This is a clear

case of money talks. "

 

Japan rejects the accusation, saying the countries

joining have legitimate concerns about the impact of

whales on fisheries, often the main source of income

for coastal states.

 

Far from opening up to environmentally sustainable

whaling, many in the opposition camp said they want it

banned for good.

 

New Zealand has tabled a non-binding resolution

expressing concerns over how whales are killed. It has

a fair chance of passing since, unlike legislative

measures, it only needs a simple majority.

 

Green groups fear those kinds of anti-hunting

resolutions, a common feature of the IWC's work in

recent years, would be stopped if new members

supported traditional whaling nations.

 

Story by Robin Pomeroy

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE