Whale wars in Washington D.C. & the Southern Oceans

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

 

 

Whale wars in Washington D.C. & the Southern Oceans

 

WASHINGTON D.C.-- " The American people

care deeply about protecting whales and do not

want the U.S. to be the broker who capitulated to

those who still want to kill whales for

commercial gain, " declared U.S. House of

Representatives Natural Resources Committee chair

Nick Rahall in a February 4, 2009 letter asking

the acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce to replace

William Hogarth as U.S. representative on the

International Whaling Commission. Hogarth is

also the current IWC chair.

The Rahall letter reinforced a February

2, 2009 appeal to U.S. President Barack Obama by

the Whales Need Us coalition, representing 13

prominent anti-whaling organizations, headed by

Animal Welfare Institute wildlife biologist D.J.

Schubert.

Alleged the Humane Society Inter-national

division of the Humane Society of the U.S.,

" Documents from closed-door meetings corroborate

the disturbing nature of a secret deal the U.S.

is attempting to broker with Japan to legitimize

and expand commercial whaling. Hogarth led the

small group of member countries that devised the

proposalŠTo appease Japan--the most vocal of the

three nations that still conduct large-scale

whaling--the group worked behind-the-scenes to

draft packages for consideration by the full

commission which would allow Japan and possibly

other countries to expand commercial whale hunts

to coastal waters. "

The purported deal would follow the

recommendations of a " Whale Symposium " held by

the Pew Charitable Trusts in February 2008. The

symposium concluded that " the most promising

compromise " to end conflict with Japan over the

23-year-old IWC moratorium on commercial whaling

" would recognize potentially legitimate claims by

coastal whaling communities; suspend scientific

whaling in its current form and respect

sanctuaries; and define a finite number of

whales that can be taken by all of the world's

nations. "

Charged HSI, " The Hogarth package would

undermine the IWC's moratorium on commercial

whaling and provide an official stamp of approval

for Japan's self-allotted quotas, " through which

the Japanese whaling fleet has killed more than

15,000 whales.

" Hogarth's plan proposes to put all

decisions regarding conservation and protection

issues on hold for five years, " HSI continued,

" but would result in an immediate partial lifting

of the moratorium on commercial whaling once the

deal has IWC consent.

" The only concession that Japan makes

under the deal, " HSI said, " is to promise to

reduce the number of whales it kills in the

IWC-designated Southern Ocean Sanctuary. There

will be no mandatory sanctions should the promise

be broken. The plan also opens the door for

other countries to initiate hunts in their

coastal waters. "

Hogarth, dean of the University of South

Florida marine science department, was appointed

U.S. representative to the IWC by former U.S.

president George W. Bush.

Hogarth told St. Petersburg Times staff

writer Craig Pittman that he intends to resign

after the IWC elects a new chair and vice chair

in June 2009, but that will be after the IWC

acts on whatever proposals are advanced at the

2009 IWC annual meeting, to be held in Santiago,

Chile, June 16-19.

 

Meanwhile at sea

 

Word of the Hogarth deal and the appeals

for his replacement reached mass media just as

the Japanese whaling fleet, operating well

inside the Southern Oceans Whale Sanctuary,

turned more aggressive in response to a fourth

consecutive winter of pursuit by the Sea Shepherd

Conservation Society.

Shadowed by the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve

Irwin, the whalers apparently killed no whales

from December 18, 2008 until January 7, 2009,

when the Steve Irwin returned to Australia to

refuel. Catching up to the whaling fleet again

on February 1, the Sea Shepherds " pursued them

for another nine days, during which time the

whalers were only able to kill five whales, "

reported an Environmental News Service

correspondent from aboard the Steve Irwin.

" Typically the whalers take eight to 10 whales

per day, " said the ENS correspondent.

E-mailed Sea Shepherd founder Paul

Watson, " On February 5th, the fifth day that

the Steve Irwin had shut down all whaling

activities by the Japanese fleet, " in part by

blocking the harpoon vessels as they tried to

transport whale carcasses to the factory ship

Nisshin Maru for processing, " the frustration of

the whalers violently erupted. All three harpoon

vessels attacked the Steve Irwin, making close

passes with their ships, lobbing metal balls at

our crew and using a Long Range Acoustical

Device, which causes nausea and deafness. At

one point they even pointed the LRAD at our

helicopter, filming the confrontation from the

skies. "

British activist Steve Roest " became

disoriented in an inflatable from the sonic

blast, fell, and cut his head, needing five

stitches, " reported ENS. " Watson said this was

followed by the Nisshin Maru turning into the

Steve Irwin and attempting to ram the Sea

Shepherd vessel at full speed. "

" On February 6th, " e-mailed Watson, " two

incidents occurred where the Steve Irwin collided

with harpoon vessels as they forced their way

past the Steve Irwin's blockade. These

collisions were not intentional on the part of

Sea Shepherd. "

The Steve Irwin turned back to port on

February 9. " Watson said he believes that on

January 31 the Japanese government dispatched a

security vessel called the Taiyo Maru #38 from

Fiji to intercept the Steve Irwin, " reported ENS.

" The ship is believed to be carrying a

special boarding unit and has orders to seize the

ship and all video evidence, according to a

source in Fiji, " Watson told ENS. " We cannot

allow this documentation to be captured. "

Added ENS, " The Steve Irwin had only

another four days of fuel before being forced to

return anyway, said Watson, who plans to begin

preparations to return next season with a faster

and longer range ship. "

Concluded Watson, " We found and engaged

the whalers earlier than ever, chasing the

whaling fleet over 2,000 miles, and for 27 days

we physically prevented the killing of any

whales. We've cost the Japanese whaling industry

millions of dollars. "

But with the U.S. delegation to the IWC

apparently wavering, the whalers' determination

to continue killing whales appeared to be as

strong as ever.

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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