Whaling Update and the IWC

By Kate O'Connell, CSI Board

Since the last issue of Whales Alive! was published, Norway, Iceland and Japan have all begun whaling again, prior to the 2004 Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Sorrento, Italy.

In recent weeks, the Norwegian government has been particularly active on the whaling issue. Not only did the country begin its whale hunt in the first week of May (with a quota of 670 minke whales), it also undertook an extensive administrative and Parliamentary debate on the whaling issue. In response to a government white paper on marine mammals, issued by the Fisheries Ministry, the Norwegian Storting (Parliament) raised the issue of both whale and seal hunts. After an initial recommendation by its Business and Industry Committee, the Storting unanimously passed a non-binding, but strongly worded resolution on May 20th, calling for a "considerable increase" in the minke whale quota; discussions within the parliament made it clear that many would wish to see the quota rise to as high as 1800 minke whales a year. Fisheries Minister Svein Ludvigsen also alluded to the possibility of research whaling on other species of whales.

As Whales Alive! goes to press, the minke whale hunt on many of the Norwegian whaling grounds is already winding down. According to press reports, the Svalbard, Nordsjoen and Barentshavet hunts are nearly done. Poor weather in Finnmark has kept the killing there down, while in Jan Mayen whaling vessels have yet to operate. Although the whalers seem to be in a rush to fill their quotas, sales of whale meat have not been good, according to the Norwegian fisheries newspaper, Fiskeribladet. The paper quotes the Rafisklaget (Norwegian Raw Fish Association) as saying that sales are "sluggish".

Rafisklaget has placed a "tax" on the production of whale meat products in an effort to try and raise funds for a whale meat advertising promotion ... trying to convince the Norwegian public that eating whale meat is good. Fiskeribladet is reporting that once the summer holidays begin minke whale meat and recipes will be profiled in 12 towns, among them Tromso and Larvik. Chefs will try and teach people how to prepare various recipes, so that "Now Norwegians will taste how fantastic fresh whale meat is!"

Rafisklaget and the Fisheries Ministry should review the idea of marketing whale meat, given the on-going concerns about contamination. In March of this year the Norwegian Ministry of Health reissued an earlier warning to pregnant and nursing women saying that they should not eat whale meat given high levels of mercury contamination which can adversely affect the nervous system. Blubber and meat from Norway are so highly contaminated that Japan has not yet allowed for imports of these products, and the blubber is worth so little that whalers simply toss it overboard.

On the 1st of June, the Icelandic Minister of Fisheries, Arni Mathiesen, announced that Iceland was planning to continue its scientific whaling program on minke whales, although for a reduced number of 25, down from the 36 it killed in 2003 and far less than its original plans to kill 250 whales a year. As is the case with Norway, Iceland has also issued a health warning on the consumption of minke whale meat by pregnant and nursing women. It is perhaps due to concerns over toxics that have caused whale meat sales in Iceland to languish. In response to a question by a member of the Althingi, Iceland's parliament, Minister Mathiesen admitted that out of roughly 35 tons of whale meat produced by Iceland's 2003 hunt, 23 tons remain unsold as of mid-May.

Given the apparent economic failure of the whaling industry in Iceland, the success of whale watching there stands in strong contrast. By 2002, according to information provided by the Husavik Whale Center, some 62,000 visitors to Iceland went whale watching during the months April-October, providing $14 million in revenue. Iceland has become the whale watch capital of northern Europe. Unfortunately, this success is now threatened by the government's insistence on whaling. Last September, a whale was killed in a whale watch bay, and if such continues it is unlikely that whale watching can continue to grow. Whales accustomed to safe waters could eventually grow skittish. Unfortunately, the hunt has continued and by press time, five whales had already been killed.

Clearly the public in all three whaling nations have shown a decrease in interest in eating whale meat and products. In addition, the concerns over contaminant loads are growing; the Faroes Islands (where a huge "drive hunt" took place only last week, killing more than 400 pilot whales) and Greenland, where natives kill both large and small cetaceans have received warnings from the Danish Environmental Institute similar to those issued by their Icelandic and Norwegian counterparts.

The Japanese had originally planned to set sail for the 2004 North Pacific research hunt on May 13th, but for reasons as yet unknown, the hunt was postponed. As Whales Alive! was going to press, it was being reported by a fisheries news service in Japan, the Suisen Keizai, that the North Pacific fleet had set sail the second week in June, planning to take 260 whales in defiance of last year's IWC resolution calling on all governments to halt scientific whaling, saying that it was "against the spirit of the moratorium".

All three whaling nations attempt to justify the scientific kill of whales as being a necessary way to get information on the whales' feeding habits, claiming that whales are putting commercial fish stocks in jeopardy. Scientists from Japan, Norway and Iceland have claimed that marine mammals eat more than 800 million tons of fish a year. However, a recent study by marine biologist Kristin Kaschner of the University of British Columbia shows that the "whales v. fish" competition theory is nowhere near as simple as the whalers would have one believe.

Kaschner analyzed marine mammal sightings, and compared these to a global database on fisheries harvests, trying to figure the location and quantity of marine mammal feeding. In speaking to the World Fisheries Congress held in Vancouver in May, Kaschner reported her findings. According to her research, about 80 per cent of the world's fish catch comes from regions where there is very little overlap between commercial fisheries and marine mammals, and 99 percent of marine mammal feeding takes place where very little fishing at all occurs. She concluded that, "Marine mammals are not likely to have a large impact on large fisheries."

Japan continues to try and reopen commercial trade in whale meat, and has registered a proposal with CITES to downlist the Northern hemisphere minke whale so as to open trade. If you would like more information on this issue, the proposal can be found at http://www.cites.org/. Japan has also proposed a resolution that will attempt to get CITES members to agree to tell the IWC to hurry on with the business of adopting the Revised Management Scheme (RMS). The next CITES meeting is to be held in Bangkok, Thailand in autumn, 2004, fortunately after this year's IWC meeting.

Sanctuaries will be high on the agenda at the Sorrento meeting, with the Antarctic Southern Ocean Sanctuary up for renewal, as well as proposals for the creation of two new sanctuaries in the South Pacific and the South Atlantic. With regards to the latter, Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva on May 22nd took the extraordinary step of writing to fellow heads of state, asking for support to establish the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary and to promote the nonlethal use of whale resources.

President Lula da Silva stated that, "We are convinced that the establishment of the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary will contribute to enhance international cooperation for scientific research and to the regional promotion of the many social values that can be realized from these animals in our ocean basin." Readers of Whales Alive! well know the amazing efforts of Brazilian José Truda Palazzo, who has labored long and hard to promote whale conservation and who has worked tirelessly with his government to ensure protection for whales both locally and globally.

With regards to aboriginal subsistence whaling, a recent decision by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals means that it may well take years before the Makah tribe can resume its hunt for gray whales in the Pacific (see Whales Alive!, April 2003). The judges stated that prior to the resumption of any hunt the federal government must conduct and complete an assessment of the environmental impact of the hunt on the gray whales. The Makah, who base their hunt on an 1855 treaty right, have not yet decided how or if to appeal the decision. Their attorney, John Arum, believes that the next step would be the costly and time consuming one of appealing to the Supreme Court to hear the case, and complying with the ruling likely will take "several years, at least."

The IWC meetings will begin at the end of June, with the Scientific Committee meeting from June 29th until July 10th. The full session of the Commission (preceded by a week of working group meetings) will run from Monday, July 19th until the 22nd. CSI will be ably represented by Heather Rockwell, and in addition, two CSI Board members, Nancy Azzam and Deb Adams will also be attending. A full report of the meeting and its outcomes will be available in the next edition of this newsletter.