- Title: Divided international whaling watchdog starts meeting in Slovenia
- Date: 24th October 2016
- Summary: PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA (OCTOBER 24, 2016) (REUTERS) PORTOROZ BAY HOTEL, VENUE OF INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION (IWC) MEETING CHAIRMAN OF THE IWC MEETING, BRUNO MAININI, (LEFT) TALKING TO JAPANESE COMMISSIONER, JOJI MORISHITA JAPANESE DELEGATE NORWEGIAN DELEGATES SMALL STATUE OF WHALE PAINTED IN THE COLOURS OF UNITED STATES FLAG PRESIDING MEMBERS OF IWC SEATED AUDIENCE LISTENING CLOSE OF SIGN READING "JAPAN" ON JAPAN DELEGATION DESK JAPANESE DELEGATES (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAPANESE COMMISSIONER AT THE IWC, JOJI MORISHITA, SAYING: "I think that at this meeting we should look at the larger picture rather than specific proposals. This organisation has been deadlocked in a stalemate for a long time. It is because the basic positions about whales and whaling are very different among countries - one side supports sustainable utilisation, other side supports total protection. And unless we solve this issue, or find a way out from this stalemate, no issue will be actually discussed in a constructive manner." CONFERENCE ROOM DELEGATES TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, JOSH FRYDENBERG (LEFT), SAYING: "We believe that the Commission itself should have a closer look at the granting of those (scientific whaling) permits and that will be a more effective way to establishing... the effectiveness of these permits that countries grant themselves. As you may be aware, last year Japan took 333 Minke whales in the Southern Ocean. This is an area close to Australia, and, as you know, we went to the International Court of Justice with Japan, and we were successful at the International Court of Justice. So our position is we would like Japan to undertake no lethal means of research, no special permits, but, at the same time, we understand there's a process, and that's why we believe more scrutiny should be shown to that process on the granting of those permits." PROTESTER STANDING NEXT TO ROAD HOLDING UP POSTER READING (English): "THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR ANIMAL ABUSE" TWO PROTESTERS HOLDING UP LARGE BANNER READING (English): "JAPAN'S NEW REP-A (RESEARCH PROGRAM) IS THEIR NEW RAPE" PROTESTER HOLDING POSTER READING (English): "SAVE THE WHALES" (SOUNDBITE) (English) WWF GLOBAL CETACEAN AND MARINE TURTLE MANAGER, AIMEE LESLIE, SAYING: "In our eyes there is no reason to hunt whales for science today. There are plenty of non-lethal methods that address any kind of research need. But since article 8 of the convention still exists, which allows whaling for scientific purposes, then we welcome the initiative that Australia and New Zealand have had by presenting resolution 66-11 which proposes a process to review the scientific whaling permits. Our main ask is that first, this process should find out what is the need of the Commission for this kind of research - I mean, is this information that is actually useful to the Commission in the first place? - because to date it hasn't been. Second, is there a non-lethal alternative to achieve that research objective? Because if there is, again, there's no reason to go whaling. And third - sanctuaries need to be respected, it's the reason why they were created. The Southern Ocean Sanctuary was created to protect whales from whaling, so to carry out scientific whaling in a sanctuary goes against the IWC and, as the International Court of Justice said, is basically illegal." CLOSE OF LESLIE'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WWF GLOBAL CETACEAN AND MARINE TURTLE MANAGER, AIMEE LESLIE, SAYING: "The main threat to all cetaceans, both great whales and dolphins, today is bycatch, which is the incidental capture in fisheries. Basically it means that they are getting caught by accident in fishing operations. And this is, of course, something that nobody wants - but it's still killing over 300,000 whales a year. Which means that by the end of this interview probably one more dolphin or whale will be dead by this cause. And for that reason we think that, as a global organisation, the IWC needs to address this global crisis and a global effort is needed for that." VARIOUS OF PORTOROZ WATERFRONT
- Embargoed: 8th November 2016 14:08
- Keywords: whaling Japan Slovenia IWC
- Location: PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA
- City: PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA
- Country: Slovenia
- Topics: Environment,Nature/Wildlife
- Reuters ID: LVA00155D6GXZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The International Whaling Commission (IWC), the global whaling watchdog, started its biennial plenary session in Slovenia on Monday (October 24).
This year's meeting marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the IWC and the 30th anniversary of the global moratorium on whaling which was instrumental in helping the then dwindling whale populations to recover in the following three decades.
Some of the main issues discussed will be Australia's renewed efforts to bring more scrutiny to the process of scientific whaling permits issued by Japan to Japanese whalers in defiance of the moratorium, and the establishment of a new whale sanctuary in the Atlantic, called for by Brazil and several other South American and African countries.
But Japan's commissioner, Joji Morishita, said the IWC remains divided between a majority supporting a complete whaling ban and countries opposing it, such as Japan.
"I think that at this meeting we should look at the larger picture rather than specific proposals. This organisation has been deadlocked in a stalemate for a long time. It is because the basic positions about whales and whaling are very different among countries - one side supports sustainable utilisation, other side supports total protection. And unless we solve this issue, or find a way out of this stalemate, no issue will be actually discussed in a constructive manner," Morishita, said.
Originally established as an international body for regulating sustainable whaling and monitoring whale stocks, the IWC had started leaning towards conservationism and nature protection in the 1970s and 1980s.
Although a 1986 moratorium was successful in greatly reducing the numbers of whales taken, Japan - a traditionally whaling country - chose to defy the ban by routinely exploiting a provision in the moratorium that allows whaling conducted for scientific purposes.
Because of this, Japanese whalers still kill hundreds of whales every year, many of them in the waters of the Southern Ocean, which led Australia to take Japan to the International Court of Justice, which ruled in 2014 that Japan's whaling in the Southern Ocean should cease.
In spite of the ruling, Japan continued with its scientific whaling programme, which led Australia to propose a more stringent IWC review of all existing permits, maintaining that there is little use for lethal whale research methods.
"We believe that the Commission itself should have a closer look at the granting of those permits and that will be a more effective way to establishing... the effectiveness of these permits that countries grant themselves," Australian Minister for Environment and Energy, Josh Frydenberg, said.
Anti-whaling NGO's say Japan's scientific whaling is a disguise, while others criticise the practice because when it is conducted in an area in the Southern Ocean which has been declared a whale sanctuary, explicitly prohibiting all whaling.
"In our eyes there is no reason to hunt whales for science today. There are plenty of non-lethal methods that address any kind of research need. But since article 8 of the Convention still exists, which allows whaling for scientific purposes," said Aimee Leslie, the global cetacean and marine turtle manager for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
A new sanctuary proposed jointly by governments of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and South Africa - which would turn the entire area of the Atlantic Ocean between South America and Africa into a whale haven - is hailed as a much needed tool to fight the new dangers that whales and dolphins face today.
Some 2,000 whales are killed through whaling every year, but hundreds of thousands more die as bycatch accidentally caught in fishing nets.
"And this is, of course, something that nobody wants - but it's still killing over 300,000 whales a year. (...) And for that reason we think that, as a global organisation, the IWC needs to address this global crisis and a global effort is needed for that," Leslie added. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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