19 Jun
2006 - St Kitts and Nevis – Japan’s recruitment
drive to bring pro-whaling, anti-conservation
countries into the International Whaling Commission
(IWC) has finally succeeded.
Pro-whaling countries obtained
a narrow majority — 33 to 32, with one abstention
from China — showing an abdication of responsibility
by the global community, WWF said today at the
58th IWC meeting.
The vote for the so called “St
Kitts and Nevis Declaration”, a non-legally binding
statement asks for a “normalization” of the IWC
— which according to Japan and its supporters
— means it should return to its original 1946
mandate to regulate whaling, rather than concentrate
also on conservation issues.
The St Kitts and Nevis Declaration
also attempts to bring into question the scientific
rationale for the global ban on whale hunting
in 1986 and also slams non-governmental organizations.
It also purports to give legitimacy to the scientifically
invalid claim that whale populations are responsible
for the decline of the world’s fisheries.
“We are saddened and disappointed
that instead of building consensus on difficult
issues, this declaration has brought both sides
to the brink of open conflict," said Dr Susan
Lieberman, Director of WWF’s Global Species Programme.
"WWF agrees that the IWC
has serious deficiencies and needs modernization
and reform, but this declaration takes the IWC
in the wrong direction.”
This is the first time in decades
that there has been a pro-whaling majority at
the IWC.
"This is a shallow political
victory for the whaling countries and their allies,
and we hope this will be a wake up call to conservation-minded
countries and peoples of the world, " added
Dr Lieberman.
“At a critical juncture in conservation
globally, when whales and other marine species
are threatened by a range of threats, including
climate change, bycatch, ship strikes, and other
threats, it is sad to see the IWC moving backwards.
We hope this is only temporary.”
Many of the countries that opposed
the resolution stated for the record that they
disassociated themselves from the declaration.
Of the 17 European Union members to the IWC, only
Denmark voted for the proposal.
There is no guarantee that other
critical votes will be lost. The moratorium on
whaling will stay in place as it needs a three-quarter
majority to be overturned.
"Despite the moratorium
staying in place for the time being, the IWC is
poised on a knife edge between conserving whales
and dolphins and returning to becoming a whalers'
club," Lieberman said.
