CITES vote to downlist whales goes against Japan

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A Whale of a Debate Stirs Up the Waters at CITES 2000 Says IFAW

 

 

Delegates Vote Overwhelmingly Against Whaling While Japan Criticizes

CITES, IUCN & IWC in its Commercial Whaling Battle

 

NAIROBI, Kenya, April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Japan blasted CITES, the

International Whaling Committee (IWC) and the IUCN, when it took the floor

today at the 11th Meeting of CITES to defend its three controversial whale

proposals, which would allow for the commercial hunting of the Eastern

Pacific

gray whale, Southern Hemisphere stocks of minke whale, and Western Pacific

and

Okhotsk Sea stocks of minke whales.

Specifically, Japan seeks to downlist all three whale stock populations

from Appendix I to Appendix II, allowing for the commercial hunting of these

whales. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW --

http://www.ifaw.org) opposes these and a similar Norwegian proposal for the

downlisting of the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and North Atlantic Central

stocks

of minke whale.

After a secret ballot was cast -- Japan's Pacific gray whale downlisting

proposal was voted down. Of the 109 official votes counted, 40 supported

the

proposal, while an overwhelming 63 voted in opposition of it.

More than 27 countries and several international organizations initially

asked to speak in comment of Japan's first tabled proposal -- the

downlisting

of the Eastern Pacific Gray Whale, requiring the Chairwoman to close the

speakers list, which caused some stir on the floor.

Much of the debate centered on the role and capacity of the

International

Whaling Committee (IWC) and its relationship with CITES. The IWC

established

a commercial whaling moratorium in 1986. In respect of this, CITES parties

decided at the time that all whale stocks subject to commercial whaling

(except for W. Greenland minke whales) should be placed on Appendix I.

In defending its gray whale proposal, Japan criticized IWC for lack of

capacity, it also criticized IUCN's scientific analysis, recommending that

it

be withdrawn, and asked the CITES Secretariat to review its recommendations.

CITES Secretary-General Willem Winjstekers reiterated the Secretariat's

recommendation that CITES should defer to IWC in the matters of commercial

whaling.

The United States delegation spoke in opposition to Japan's proposals,

saying that, " The Eastern Pacific stock of Gray Whale does not meet the

criteria for downlisting from CITES Appendix I to Appendix II. " The US

delegation also noted its concern that, " the highly endangered Western stock

of the Pacific Gray Whale -- of which there are only 100 -- is not

genetically

different than the Eastern Pacific stock. "

The US was joined by Mexico, both gray whale range states, in opposition

of the proposal. Many more delegations turned out against the whale

proposals,

including Portugal, Netherlands (representing the EU), and Australia. Japan

was supported by Iceland, and Antigua Barbuda among others.

IWC Chairman confirmed that the moratorium on these species is still in

effect. While IUCN confirmed that the gray whale stocks and Southern

Hemisphere stocks of minke whale do not meet the criteria for downlisting.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare's Japan Representative, Naoko

Funahashi, was invited to speak and stated that IFAW strongly opposes all

whale downlisting proposals. Funahashi added, " I have been collecting

samples

of whale meat for independent scientific DNA testing. Results of this work

have been published in scientific journals and presented to the IWC

Scientific

Committee. We found many species other than those hunted legally, including

species that have been fully protected. This we believe indicates that the

control of the market in consuming countries is very poor and that the

Japanese and Norwegian whale proposals fail to address this. "

After no consensus could be met, the Chairwoman announced that a vote

would be taken. Japan requested that a secret vote be carried out, this was

supported by 10 required delegations. New Zealand brought chuckles to the

committee room when it requested that all binoculars be barred from use by

those in the viewing gallery to allow for the secret vote to be carried out.

While the defeat of this whale downlisting proposal indicates strong

international support for gray whale protection, a final CITES decision will

not be official until April 20th, the last day of the 11th meeting of the

CoP

to CITES.

 

Note: For full details on Norway and Japan's whale proposals visit

http://www.ifaw.org/cites .

 

The following individuals are available for interview:

* Naoko Funahashi -- IFAW Japan Representative;

* Vassili Papastravou -- IFAW International Whale Campaigner;

* Karen Steuer -- IFAW Director of Commercial Exploitation and

Trade in Endangered Species.

 

All may be contacted at +072-524000 (from inside Kenya) or

+254-72-524000

(international).

Also please contact Sue Bennet in USA on tel: 703-518-5170.

 

 

 

SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfare

Web Site: http://www.ifaw.org

 

 

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