Blow to aboriginals seen as 'sunny day' for Japan

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?np20020524a3.htm

 

Blow to aboriginals seen as 'sunny day' for Japan

 

By MICK CORLISS

Staff writer

 

SHIMONOSEKI, Yamaguchi Pref. -- After a long day and

little progress, the International Whaling Commission

on Thursday rejected a Japanese proposal that would

have lifted the commercial whaling moratorium that has

been in effect since 1986.

 

The IWC members rejected the Japanese Revised

Management Scheme draft 25 to 16. Three nations

abstained.

 

While Japan contends the scheme was carefully designed

to prevent a return to the premoratorium days of

ravaging whale populations, opponents feared the draft

would have accomplished exactly that.

 

" For one thing, it would do away with the Indian Ocean

Sanctuary and Southern Ocean Sanctuary, " said

biologist Vassili Papastavrou of the International

Fund for Animal Welfare. " For another, it does not

include an international whale DNA register. "

 

Antiwhalers say a DNA register could help stymie

poaching that could occur if commercial whaling were

resumed. A register would allow authorities to check

meat on the market against the DNA " fingerprints "

taken from captured whales to determine if the meat is

legal.

 

Progress was scant as delegates spent the bulk of

their time tied up in secret discussions on aboriginal

subsistence whaling prior to voting on Japan's

proposal.

 

As for the subsistence issue, delegates agreed to

postpone a decision until Friday morning.

 

Japan and 13 other countries stymied a joint bid made

by the United States and Russia that would have

allowed their indigenous people to continue taking

bowhead whales for five more years.

 

The proposal failed to garner the three-quarters

support needed to pass, as 30 of the 44 members that

voted backed the plan.

 

A number of the participants said Japan sabotaged the

outcome. In a release, Japan's Fisheries Agency

attributed the failure to " the United States'

hypocritical stance. "

 

" This is a black day for the IWC, not just for the

indigenous people but for the way we operate in the

commission, " said Dutch IWC Commissioner Frederik

Vossenaar.

 

The proposal would have granted the Alaskan Inuit of

the U.S. and the Chukotka people of Russia a take of

280 bowhead over five years. After it was rejected,

the U.S. voiced its disappointment and called for a

private commissioners' meeting.

 

" This is high-stakes poker, but it is not fair to play

this with the lives of aboriginal people, " said Susan

Lieberman, Director of World Wildlife Fund for

Nature's Species Program. " This is Japan and the

countries that support Japan. This is about the 50

coastal minke. "

 

Japan was denied its request for a take of 50 North

Pacific minke earlier this week. American officials

say aboriginal whaling differs from Japan's coastal

whaling because there is no commercial benefit.

 

Many of the delegations, including Japan's and some

with aboriginal members, went on the record as saying

that they had no intention of hurting indigenous

people that depend on whales but that they wanted to

end the " double standard " being wielded against

countries not allowed to whale.

 

The Japanese delegation and prowhaling lobby,

meanwhile, was reveling in the shock value of the

vote. " They are calling this a black day, " said

Masayuki Komatsu, the second-highest ranking official

in Japan's delegation. " But the antiwhaling (nations)

have used a double standard to hijack this committee

and deal black days to us. So for us, today is a very

sunny day. "

 

Komatsu acknowledged that there was a risk of

political fallout but shrugged off the concern by

saying that everything entails risk and that Japan had

to take a stand to " normalize " the IWC.

 

The Japan Times: May 24, 2002

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