Most progressive IWC meeting for many years draws to a controversial and chaotic close

7/14/2011 4:54 PM EST

Although the 63rd International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Jersey adopted a proposal by the United Kingdom to clean up the practices of the Commission, less than a day later Japan and its allies crashed the meeting by walking out en masse and breaking a quorum on a vote for the adoption of a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic proposed by Argentina and Brazil.

“The Sanctuary incorporates some important breeding grounds and migratory routes for whale species in southern hemisphere”, says Sue Fisher, anti-whaling lead for WDCS (the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society).

Whale conservation was left hanging on an interpretation of 14 words in the IWC rules of procedure on what constitutes a quorum, and now the decision on a sanctuary in the South Atlantic will be put back until the next IWC meeting in 2012.
“Despite Japan’s outrageous procedural tricks, this has been one of the most important meetings of the IWC in at least fifteen years”, Fisher continues. "Adoption of the UK’s governance proposal is a big step in reinforcing the credibility of the IWC. WDCS regrets that the Commission did not advance the rights of NGOs to participate more fully in IWC discussions, but we believe that the reforms will make the Commission and its decision-making process more transparent, and governments more accountable. "

Following revelations last year of large scale vote-buying of member countries, a resolution put forward by the UK government reformed the Commission's rules to prevent payment of membership fees from untraceable sources, including envelopes of cash.
Despite the whaling nations continuing to bend and break international rules in order to slaughter and trade in whales, Fisher says there have been some big steps forward at IWC63 which bode well for the future of whales and promise much for the Commission’s next meeting in Panama in 2012.
WDCS will look back on IWC63 as a pivotal meeting for the future of cetaceans and the IWC itself, and a largely successful meeting for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

“For years we have raised concerns about the conduct of some subsistence hunts by indigenous people. Finally, at its 63rd annual meeting, the Commission agreed to initiate a programme of reform of ‘Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling’, including working to ensure that indigenous whalers improve the humaneness of the hunts, address growing commerciality of products intended to meet subsistence needs, and provide adequate data in support of their requests for a whaling quota. “

Despite the early closure of this year’s meeting preventing any further discussion on the issue of marine debris, groundbreaking steps were also taken in the IWC’s Scientific and Conservation Committees to start examining the impacts of this debris on cetaceans. The Commission agreed to advance a programme of work, including an intercessional scientific meeting championed by WDCS. It will also cooperate in future with United Nations agencies already working on mitigating this growing threat to the marine environment.

These fruitful discussions in Jersey relating to the growing concerns over marine debris raised by WDCS have been welcomed by Mark Simmonds, WDCS’s international director of science, who is delighted that the IWC (and WDCS) have added such an important conservation matter to its work programme and will now be investigating the impacts of the growing amounts of plastic debris in the oceans, killing and maiming unknown numbers of marine species, including whales and dolphins.

“There have been a few examples of whale bodies coming ashore with large quantities of plastic bags and plastic sheeting packed inside their stomachs. The effects of eating plastics and how common or otherwise this may be are unknown. It may be that some whales are being exposed to increasing amounts of plastic in their world. They may be mistaking it for food or it may be mixed up with their prey and then eating it by accident. We just don’t know for sure and we really need to try and find out.

“We are delighted with the small meeting of experts planned for Honolulu, which the US will host. We are also aware that funds may be needed to allow experts to attend from around the world and WDCS will contribute to this and we encourage others to do likewise.”

Ends