(JP) Progress expected at IWC meeting

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http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020505wo41.htm

 

Progress expected at IWC meeting

 

Kyoko Masamoto Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

 

Japan will be tested as the host of this year's annual

meeting of the International Whaling Commission, which

is to be held in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture,

for five days starting on May 20.

 

The IWC's annual meetings have been mired in an

ongoing dispute between whaling countries, including

Japan, and antiwhaling nations such as the United

States for several years.

 

The plenary meeting will follow the preparatory

sessions now being held in Shimonoseki that began on

April 25.

 

Though the annual meeting is being held in Japan for

the first time in nine years, there is little

possibility that Japanese attempts to pave the way for

resumption of commercial whaling will be successful.

 

Nonetheless, deliberations will not make any progress

if the dispute remains unresolved, and the situation

may put the whole raison d'etre of the IWC in doubt.

 

Already under way is the annual meeting of the IWC's

Scientific Committee at which researchers are

discussing ocean pollution and habitat conditions of

whales.

 

Based on the committee's debates, representatives of

member countries will discuss key issues, including

the possible resumption of commercial whaling, at the

plenary meeting.

 

The main issues to be discussed at the plenary meeting

include:

 

-- Methods for completion of the Revised Management

Scheme (RMS), a framework to scientifically calculate

and control the number of whales that can be caught,

as a precondition for the resumption of commercial

whaling.

 

-- Possible expansion of the sanctuaries in which

whaling is banned.

 

-- Whether Iceland, a whaling country, will rejoin the

IWC.

 

As for the RMS, antiwhaling countries have insisted

that foreign monitors be given priority over domestic

monitors in boarding research whaling ships--a

proposal pro-whaling countries likely will oppose.

 

Antiwhaling countries are expected to propose adding

the South Pacific and South Atlantic to the sanctuary

areas, which now include the Indian Ocean and the

Antarctic Ocean, in another move likely to be opposed

by pro-whaling countries.

 

Japan will propose expanding research whaling in the

northwestern Pacific and the resumption of whaling in

coastal regions, but approval of these measures is

thought to be difficult if not impossible to achieve.

 

The Japanese delegation also will point out that

whales have had an adverse effect on the fisheries

industry because of the large volumes of fish they

consume.

 

Among the key issues, the move to complete the RMS as

soon as possible seems to have the most room for

compromise.

 

At the previous meeting in London, the IWC decided to

set up an RMS panel made up of experts from eight

countries, including Japan and the United States,

representing both pro- and antiwhaling nations.

 

Antiwhaling countries hope to use the panel to prove

that resumption of commercial whaling is ill advised

and cannot be approved.

 

The establishment of the panel, however, is a small

victory for pro-whaling nations because some member

countries, such as Australia, oppose the RMS itself.

 

Pro-whaling countries are expected to propose a change

in the voting system at the IWC plenary meeting.

 

Currently, motions on important issues can be passed

with the approval of three-fourths of participating

member countries, with the vote being counted through

a simple show of hands.

 

If the voting method is changed to a secret ballot, as

pro-whaling countries suggest, there is a possibility

that the current balance between pro-whaling and

antiwhaling nations may change.

 

Currently 42 countries (43 if Iceland is included),

belong to the IWC. Japan and other pro-whaling

countries number only three, antiwhaling countries

such as the United States and Australia number 22, 14

nations are neutral, and the four remaining countries

will be absent or banned from voting at the plenary

meeting.

 

If the secret-ballot method is introduced, there is a

possibility that some neutral countries may side with

the pro-whaling countries.

 

As a simple majority vote could effect the change in

the voting method, the attempt may shift the

entrenched balance at the IWC.

 

As Japan has suspended commercial whaling for 14

years, government officials point out that fewer and

fewer Japanese eat whale meat.

 

Furthermore, most firms that conducted commercial

whaling in the past, such as food companies, have

judged that high costs would prevent them from

resuming whaling even if commercial whaling were to be

permitted.

 

===

 

Delegate calls for understanding

 

Minoru Morimoto, the government's delegate to the IWC,

said that the balance between pro- and antiwhaling

countries has been changing.

 

" The question is whether debates can progress toward

resumption of commercial whaling, " he said at an

international conferences recently. " Countries are

deepening their understanding of the view that human

beings need to use whales in a sustainable manner

rather than merely protect them.

 

" After the RMS was made, data from Japan's research

whaling prompted other countries to take a positive

view toward whaling, " he said.

 

About predicted difficult negotiations with

antiwhaling countries, Morimoto said: " This year,

Japan has proposed implementing full-scale research

whaling in the northwestern Pacific. Antiwhaling

countries are expected to submit a motion to demand

voluntary restraint from full-scale research whaling.

 

" But because whales eat a huge volume of fish, there

have been problems protecting fisheries resources. I

will seek the understanding of antiwhaling countries

too in attempting to fashion a system that allows for

the protection of whales and the fisheries industry. "

 

Commenting on the significance of Japan's hosting the

plenary meeting, Morimoto said: " The IWC is being

driven by force of numbers (between pro- and

antiwhaling nations). Though it's rare for IWC

meetings to be held in Japan and other countries that

are tolerant toward whaling, I want Japan to host IWC

annual meetings at least every 10 years.

 

" The plenary meeting will be an opportunity to make

many people understand why Japan sticks to whaling,

and the historical background of the fisheries

industry and food culture in Japan, " he said.

 

Copyright 2002 The Yomiuri Shimbun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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