Guest guest Posted July 26, 2001 Report Share Posted July 26, 2001 Long but interesting. See our website at www.stopwhalekill.org for more coverage. ============================================================ IWC urges Norway to stop whaling http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/d223957.htm The International Whaling Commission once again urged Norway Wednesday to end its commercial hunting of whales. A resolution criticizing Norwegian whaling passed by 21-15. The resolution, approved during an IWC meeting in London, " calls upon the government of Norway to reconsider. and to halt immediately all whaling activities under its jurisdiction. " The IWC also called on the Norwegian government not to issue export permits for whale products. Plans by Norway to also resume commercial exports of whale products such as blubber prompted Britain to ban a Norwegian research vessel from British territorial waters last month. Norway unilaterally resumed commercial whaling in 1993 despite a global ban imposed in 1985. Norway has argued that the minke whale, which it hunts every year off the northern coast, is not an endangered species. Odd Gunnar Skagestad, head of the Norwegian delegation to the IWC, angrily fended off his critics, accusing them of hypocrisy and of overstepping their rights. The only purpose of the 55-year-old IWC is to protect the 12 species of great whales that were hunted to the brink of extinction in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Britain's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said none of the great whales is now in immediate danger of extinction thanks to the ban ============================================= http://www.boston.com/dailynews/206/world/U_S_anti_whaling_group_ordered:.sh tml U.S. anti-whaling group ordered out of St. Lucian waters after harassment complaints By Guy Ellis, Associated Press, 7/25/2001 20:12 CASTRIES, St. Lucia (AP) A ship manned by an anti-whaling group was escorted out of St. Lucia's waters because the crew was harassing fishermen, the government said Wednesday. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, known for ramming whaling ships and sabotaging poachers' nets, has been using the 180-foot Ocean Warrior to patrol off Caribbean nations where whales are still hunted. The coast guard ordered the vessel out of St. Lucia's waters Monday night after allegations the crew was bothering fisherman, said Earl Bousquet, a spokesman for Prime Minister Kenny Anthony. It escorted the Ocean Warrior away ''to ensure that they did not interfere with fishermen on their way out,'' Bousquet said. Sea Shepherd spokesman Andrew Christie said by phone from the group's Malibu, Calif., base that the crew was only photographing fishermen. The group claims one of the fishermen killed a young pilot whale last week. Sea Shepherd is no longer welcome at International Whaling Commission meetings because of allegations it uses aggressive tactics. Painted on the side of the Ocean Warrior are the names of nine whaling vessels the group claims to have sunk since 1979. The ship has been touring the region to call attention to whaling practices as the whaling commission holds its annual convention this week in London. St. Lucia was among six eastern Caribbean nations that voted with Japan and Norway to defeat the creation of whale sanctuaries in the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. ================== Whale hunt okayed off Washington coast http://www.vancouversun.com/newsite/news/010725/5055142.html The hunt could start before the end of year Nicholas Read Vancouver Sun with Canadian Press The U.S. government has given the Makah tribe of western Washington a green light to hunt grey whales in Juan de Fuca Strait. An environmental assessment issued by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service says the decision was made because of the government's treaty obligations to the Makah and the healthy status of the whale population. It means there could be a hunt in the strait before the end of the year. George Bowechop, executive director of the Makah Whaling Commission, said Tuesday the timing of a hunt will depend on how quickly the tribe reaches an agreement with the fisheries service. " We don't see any roadblocks, but you never know, " he said. Asked if a hunt would take place this year, Bowechop replied: " I won't say on that one. I'll wait to see how the process goes. " Fisheries service spokesman Brian Gorman said he didn't know if negotiations between service and the Makah had begun, but once they do, he expects them to proceed expeditiously. " There is no schedule, but I assume [an agreement] could be reached very soon. " Gorman said once an agreement is reached, it will be up to the Makah to decide when a hunt takes place. " In theory, as soon as the cooperative agreement is completed, they could move ahead with the hunt. But the timing is entirely up to the tribe. " Bowechop said three Makah families are already " actively preparing " for a hunt, which will be conducted from an open canoe and a motorized chase boat. The whale will be hit first with a harpoon to tire it out, then shot with a rifle. Unlike the 1999 hunt, which had to take place between June and November in the ocean outside the strait, future hunts will be permitted to occur year-round and in the strait adjacent to the Makah reservation. According to a quota set by the International Whaling Commission, the Makah are permitted to kill no more than five whales before 2002, when the quota period expires. The last time the Makah hunted a grey whale, in 1999, it caused a storm of protest from environmental groups, who say hunting of whales should never take place. They are even more concerned about this hunt because it could affect a summer resident population of greys that lives and feeds off the coast of Washington and B.C. " It has terrible implications, " said Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist for the Humane Society if the U.S. " I don't think any hunt is justified, but the fact that they've lifted the time and location restrictions is cavalier. " I don't understand it. It's not precautionary science. " Rose and other scientists say it is irresponsible of fisheries service to permit any summer resident whales to be killed because so little is known about them and the impact they have on the B.C. and Washington coastal environments. Most grey whales, which can reach about 15 metres in length and live 60 years or longer, spend their winters off the coast of Baja California, Mex. and their summers in the Bering Sea. But each year, for reasons unknown to scientists, a group of 200 to 300 spend their summers swimming in a stretch of ocean south of Alaska and north of California. Included within this population are the whales that live and feed in Juan de Fuca Strait. " We don't know if there is a random movement of all those 200 to 300 whales through the hunt area, or if a smaller portion of them have a preference for the B.C./Washington coast, " said Jim Darling, a research zoologist for the West Coast Whale Research Foundation in Tofino. Meanwhile, federal guidelines on the care of captive marine mammals will be established within two years and used to determine whether whales can be captured live in Canadian waters, Fisheries Minister Herb Dhaliwal said Tuesday. Canada has not approved any captures of live whales since 1992 and many environmental groups had been seeking an outright ban. " Should there be applications for live capture of marine mammals in Canadian waters, they would be reviewed thoroughly based on the care and maintenance standards that will be developed, " Dhaliwal said. Live capture in Canadian waters will not be considered for non-Canadian facilities, said the release. John Nightingale, president of the Vancouver Aquarium, said the federal initiative is a good one that will involve authoritative, independent organizations leading the effort to develop standards. ========================== http://cgi.sacbee.com/news/calreport/calrep_story.cgi?story=N2001-07-25-1245 -1.html Previously unknown whale species unearthed in San Diego SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A previously unknown species of whale that lived about 2 million to 4 million years ago has been found in the tony seaside neighborhood of La Jolla, officials said Wednesday. The fossil remains were identified last week by paleontologists as the remains of an extinct type of baleen whale that swam in a huge bay covering what is now Mount Soledad. The remains were unearthed six months ago while construction crews were replacing a drinking water reservoir. Paleontologists, who are required by San Diego County to monitor sensitive construction sites, spotted the fossils and halted construction. They pulled out a partial skull, both ear bones, a lower limb bone and broken ribs from the soil. Shark teeth belonging to an ancestor of the Great White Shark also were found. Some of the whale bones showed cut marks that likely were caused by shark bites, said J.D. Stewart of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, who examined the fossils. Lawrence G. Barnes, a vertebrate paleontologist at the museum who identified the bones, estimated the length of the whale at about 40 feet. The discovery was typical for the region known as the San Diego Formation, once a crescent-shaped bay that stretched from Mount Soledad to Rosarito, Mexico. About 14 previously unknown species of whales, dolphins and porpoises have been found in the formation, Barnes said. " The San Diego area was this bay teeming with whales, dolphins, porpoises -- even a sea cow, " Barnes said. Huge numbers of birds, fish and sharks also populated the area. The fossils will be kept in private collections of the San Diego Society of Natural History. ======================================= http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1456000/1456934.stm Wednesday, 25 July, 2001, 20:13 GMT 21:13 UK Former whaler decries 'blood money' John Burton: Regards his whaling earnings as " blood money " By BBC News Online's environment correspondent Alex Kirby A former whaler says he does not accept that anybody needs to eat whale meat. We don't let cows and pigs be chased round a slaughterhouse for several hours by a man with a crossbow riding a powerful motorbike John Burton, former whaler The whaler, John Burton, from the UK, spent three seasons in the Antarctic 50 years ago. He often worked as look-out on a catcher vessel, and says he was involved in killing hundreds of whales. But he describes his earnings from those days as " blood money " . Mr Burton, from north-east England, was speaking at a Greenpeace news conference at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting taking place in London. Orange through fear He is not a Greenpeace member himself, but says he was stirred to voice his misgivings by the organisation's campaign against whaling. He went to sea at the age of 16, and worked as a mess boy, which also involved helping on deck and in the catcher's crow's-nest. A looming presence outside the meeting Mr Burton described how a hunted whale would dive, only to find when it resurfaced that the whalers were still waiting. Turning the sea deep orange as it defecated with fear, he said, the whale would swim furiously to escape, but was usually harpooned despite its efforts. Sometimes a whale would tow the 400-tonne catcher vessel behind it in a bid to rid itself of the harpoon. When harpoons were extracted from dead whales, they sometimes had to be returned to the blacksmith's shop on the factory ship. Some would need straightening and renovation, because they had been bent and twisted like paper-clips. Finite resource The IWC is under pressure from two members, Japan and Norway, to end its 15-year-old moratorium on commercial whaling. Iceland, attending the meeting as an observer, also wants to start whaling again. Mr Burton told BBC News Online he was absolutely opposed to any resumption of commercial whaling for two reasons - the depletion of the whales' numbers, and the cruelty of the hunt. " I eat meat and I like it, " he said. " But farm animals are something you can replenish, and they do have some measure of reasonable life. " Whales are a finite resource - you can't farm them. And the numbers killed in the whaling years are staggering. " There are two elements to the cruelty. For the whale, the worse part was probably the hunt. The chase could last for hours - the longest I remember was four to five hours. Mother's blood " Whales have very sensitive hearing, and the ones we were chasing would probably be able to hear our engine and propeller from three or four miles away. Sometimes they'd hide in the pack ice. But we'd always be waiting for them. " The kill was terribly cruel. We don't let cows and pigs be chased round a slaughterhouse for several hours by a man with a crossbow riding a powerful motorbike. " The whales could take as long as eight hours to die, then eventually they'd be towed to the factory ship. The sight on deck there was a real Hell's kitchen - blood everywhere, three or four inches (6-8 centimetres) deep. " I remember once seeing a 92-foot (28-metre) blue whale being cut up. Another time, tossed aside in the scuppers, lay a 5-ft (1.5-m) foetus, lying in its mother's blood. " Mr Burton accepts the case for traditional whaling in the Arctic and the Caribbean, but disputes Japan's claim that whaling is part of its culture. " I don't accept that anyone needs to whale, " he said. " I can't understand the Norwegians, though I have many friends there. " I was part of north-east England's whaling culture. Now it's gone - and nobody misses it. " =========================================== Thursday July 26, 1:41 AM http://sg.news./010725/3/19q3e.html Stalemate on ending ban at whale meeting By Jeremy Lovell LONDON (Reuters) - The International Whaling Commission passed a motion on Wednesday criticising Norway for hunting Minke whales and resuming exports of whale products, but made no progress on ending a ban on commercial hunting. " The working group has not been able to resolve all the issues, " Dutch delegation head Fer Von der Assen told the IWC's annual meeting. As in the past, the key outstanding issues remain inspections and observers to monitor whale catch when the temporary total ban introduced in 1985 to protect the 12 species of great whale is finally lifted. There is also deep disagreement on the creation of a central DNA registry for all whales that are killed. An important component in lifting the ban is agreement on the Revised Management Scheme to set and police catch quotas. But this has been effectively beached since 1997. Norway and Japan, where whale meat is a delicacy, have consistently opposed the ban. Norway in 1993 resumed hunting of Minke whales, which it says are in plentiful supply. " The commission calls upon the government of Norway to reconsider...and to halt immediately all whaling activities under its jurisdiction, " said a resolution passed by 21 votes to 15 with one abstention. It also called on the Norwegian government not to issue any export permits for whale products. 'WITHIN OUR RIGHTS' Norwegian delegation head Odd Gunnar Skagested angrily rounded on his attackers, accusing them of hypocrisy and of overstepping their rights. " We reject the notion that we should be criticised for doing things that are thoroughly within our rights, " he said. " We are surprised at anyone bringing a resolution of this kind. " Japan hunts Minke whales under the guise of scientific research, selling the meat to shops and restaurants. The meeting rejected by 20 votes to 15 with two abstentions a Japanese bid -- described by the United States as a backdoor way of lifting the ban -- to allow four hard-hit local subsistence communities to catch 50 Minke whales a year. Britain, the United States, Australia and New Zealand are fervent in their defence of the ban, with at least one British minister on record as saying it should never be lifted. A three-quarters majority of voting members is necessary to change the rules of the 55-year old organisation, whose only purpose is the protection of great whales. Britain's Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food says none of the great whales -- from the gargantuan 150-tonne Blue Whale to the relatively diminutive 15-tonne Minke -- is now in immediate danger of extinction thanks to the ban. But the Blue and its 90-tonne Northern Right cousin and classified as endangered, while the Bowhead, Southern Right, Sei, Fin and Humpback whales are considered vulnerable. Most were hunted to the edge of extinction in the 19th and early 20th centuries or food, fat and oil. Britain, which ceased commercial whaling in 1963 and fully endorses the ban, last month banned Norwegian whale research ships from its 200-nautical-mile territorial waters in protest at Oslo's resumption of whale product exports to Japan. During Wednesday's meeting Britain came under attack from the main whaling nations for the decision. " The United Kingdom has chosen to put its own political considerations above the aims of the International Whaling Commission, " Norway's Skagested said. No one spoke up in defence of the British decision. ======================================= http://sg.news./010725/3/19pro.html Wednesday July 25, 8:11 PM Japan whaler says survival hard without Minkes By Tim Large WADA, Japan (Reuters) - When veteran Japanese whaler Yoshinori Shoji scores a kill, word spreads quickly in this close-knit town on Japan's Pacific coast. Even before his crew has finished winching a 10-tonne carcass to be dissected, people are gathering at the dock, hoping to buy the whale meat at its freshest. The dock is half a world away from London, where, Shoji says, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) holds his future in its hands, just as times are getting harder for whalers. " The IWC is supposed to help the whaling industry develop in a healthy way, " he said of the ongoing IWC week-long annual meeting in London. " But right now it just wants to stop whaling, so the real purpose is not being carried out. " The anti-whaling countries should leave the IWC and start their own commission. They could call it the International Whaling Conservation Commission or something. " Three generations of Shojis have harpooned whales off Wada, about 100 km (60 miles) southeast of Tokyo. Each has continued a tradition of coastal whaling in Japan that dates back at least to the early 17th century. These days, the business is up against the wall. " For the anti-whalers in London, it's a distant, abstract issue, " Shoji said. " For me, it's real. Whaling is my job, my dinner, my life. " Under current regulations, Shoji's Gaibo Whaling Corp can kill fixed quotas of certain whales not protected by a 15-year-old international moratorium on commercial whaling that Japan agreed to in 1986. That amounts to 26 Baird beaked whales between July and August and a small number of Pilot whales in the spring and autumn. With a crew of 18 aboard his two 32-tonne whalers, Shoji said that was hardly enough to put food on the table. " We need the Minke whales, " he said. Japan and Norway have consistently put pressure on the IWC to resume commercial whaling of species no longer deemed endangered. With the Minke population estimated at 750,000 in Antarctica alone, they argue stocks are sufficient to allow sustainable culling. Iceland raised the stakes this week, triggering fierce debate as it sought to rejoin the IWC after a nine-year hiatus but refusing to sign up to the commercial hunting ban. On Tuesday, the IWC put its membership on hold over that refusal. Shoji said Iceland's refusal to buckle to anti-whaling pressure could help his case ahead of next year's annual IWC meeting, set for the western Japanese city of Shimonoseki. " I hope people will come to Shimonoseki and understand what Japanese whalers are trying to do, " he said. " Maybe we can understand each other more deeply. I'm expecting the wind to blow in favour of resumption. " WHALE FOR SALE The Japanese Whaling Association, a pro-whaling, non-governmental body, has estimated that 2,500 tonnes of whale meat were consumed in Japan between December 1999 and November 2000. Most of the meat came from Minke and Baird's beaked whales, caught through coastal whaling or Japan's scientific research whaling programme. Whale meat was an important source of protein in Japan after World War Two, but has become a gourmet food over the last few decades as prices have risen in line with falling supplies. " A lot of older people buy it looking for a nostalgic taste, " said Junko Kurokawa, who runs a shop in Wada selling nothing but products from Baird's beaked whales. " Young people come to try something new. " Kurokawa's store on the main strip of the town of 6,000 offers everything from whale steaks and jerky to intricately carved whale-tooth jewellery. There is even a decorated whale penis, measuring more than one metre (three feet). While many Japanese have moved to the anti-whaling camp in recent decades, such products rarely incite the kind of emotional response they do in other countries. A senior official of Japan's Fisheries Agency sparked an outcry last week by describing Minke whales as " cockroaches " of the seas. The official was in even more hot water over comments suggesting that Tokyo used aid money to buy backing for its drive to lift the whaling moratorium. That was a charge levelled at Japan again on Tuesday after proposals to create two new southern hemisphere whale sanctuaries failed to get the necessary three-quarters majority in an open poll of IWC countries with voting rights. " This wasn't a vote, it was an auction, and Japan was the highest bidder, " said Mick McIntyre of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. ================================== Gray whales with Winston http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/1953/index.html Save the Whales http://www.homestead.com/savethewhales/index.html ..................................... http://www.stopwhalekill.org You can change list options to a daily digest or Web-only reading. Sign up at Topica, log in, and change " subscription options. 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