Guest guest Posted July 7, 2000 Report Share Posted July 7, 2000 Personal note: The news has been so dispiriting, I've found it difficult to read and post. I'm coming back though. Be warned, none of it is good. ...... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... IWC Sees Lifting of Whaling Ban, Japan Under Fire Updated 7:15 AM ET July 6, 2000 By Marie McInerney ADELAIDE (Reuters) - The International Whaling Commission (IWC) said on Thursday it sensed a new momentum toward lifting a commercial whaling ban, while allegations of vote-buying by Japan, which still hunts the mammals, grew louder. Departing IWC secretary Ray Gambell said he believed the commission this week had taken a major step toward the official resumption of commercial whaling. " It's taken us 10 years to take the first step, " he told reporters at the close of the IWC's four-day annual meeting in the south Australian city of Adelaide. " I'm not sure whether people are going to gradually accelerate or whether they're going to burst into a sprint, but yes it (a lift in the ban) is possible within the foreseeable future, " he said. Japan, which has been pushing with fellow whaler Norway to lift the 1986 ban, said it was also pleased with the progress. But it denied charges from environmentalists that it had held the Caribbean nation of Dominica " to ransom " on development aid to secure its vote against a South Pacific whale sanctuary proposed by Australia at this week's meeting. " There are no foundations for that claim, " Japanese delegation spokesman Joji Morishita told reporters. " Many other developing countries who are receiving a large amount of aid from Japan are voting 'no' to Japanese proposals in this organization, like Brazil, Argentina, India, " he said. Japan caught more than 500 minke whales in 1999 for what it says are scientific purposes, while Norway plans to kill 655 minkes this year under its official objection to the ban. VOTE MANIPULATED, GREENPEACE SAYS Greenpeace accused Japan of vote-buying amid reports that Dominica's Environment and Fisheries Minister Atherton Martin had resigned in protest on Tuesday after the sanctuary vote. " The South Pacific sanctuary was only defeated because of the votes of six Caribbean nations opposing it and it's clear that Dominica's vote was manipulated by Japan, " Greenpeace said. The sanctuary vote was lost after Australia failed to get 75 percent of the eligible 35 votes, but its supporters have vowed to press ahead with the plan at the next IWC meeting in 2001. Dominican IWC commissioner Lloyd Pascal flatly rejected the charge that his country's vote was influenced by aid, saying Martin was being used for " anti-Japanese bashing. " " Powerful international environmental organizations are bent on bringing down the sovereign government of the Commonwealth of Dominica, " he told reporters. Gambell said he saw no case for the IWC to investigate the vote-buying allegations and noted there had been a large increase in the commission's membership in the lead-up to the vote which imposed the 1986 ban. Gambell and Japan welcomed the IWC's decision this week to fast-track the drafting of new whaling rules that would apply when and if the ban on commercial whaling was lifted -- and which are a key requisite to ending the ban. COMPROMISE MOVE The compromise move, put forward by 10 nations including Sweden, Ireland and Switzerland, came amid growing concern about the entrenched pro and anti-whaling positions within the IWC. " Definitely this meeting produced some positive result from our point of view, " Morishita said. Gambell, who will step down after 24 years as secretary, said the deal to try to have new whaling rules ready by mid-2001 was a demonstration of " a will to move forward, albeit haltingly. " The rules now set to be fast-tracked would not govern quotas of whales that could be killed if the ban was lifted, but would control inspection and verification procedures. The IWC's big concern is that Japan and Norway have been effectively able to continue commercial whaling without supervision through loopholes in the ban. " We have got commercial whaling already, what we're looking for is to bring it under international control, " Gambell said. The IWC banned commercial whaling in a 1986 moratorium amid growing international concern that some species were being hunted to extinction, with tens of thousands of whales killed each year. Japan says some species, particularly minkes, are now in such abundant supply that not only could they sustain commercial whaling but they are threatening other fishing stocks. Staunch anti-whaling countries such as the United States, Britain and Australia dispute such claims. Dominican minister accuses Japan of extortion over whale sanctuary A Dominican member of parliament has accused Japan of extortion and resigned in protest over bribes allegedly offered to block a proposed Pacific whale sanctuary. Dominica's Environment and Fisheries minister, Atherton Martin, said Japan was holding the Caribbean island to " ransom. " Speaking by Telephone from Dominica, he said Japan was promising aid to tiny, black nations to pursue their policy of resuming commercial whaling. Allegations of Japan's chequebook diplomacy have been made at the International Whaling Commission's in the Australian city of Adelaide after a block of six Caribbean nations joined Tokyo in voting down the sanctuary proposal. In a video shown to journalists, former Dominican prime minister,Edison James, told Caribbean television that Tokyo was counting on Dominica's support in Adelaide. He listed details of how some 30 million U-S dollars of fisheries aid from Japan was spent in Dominica. © 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation -------- Japan to host 2002 whaling conference Meanwhile, Japan has beaten New Zealand for the right to host the International Whaling Commission's annual talks in 2002. The centre of Japan's scientific whaling industry on the southern tip of the main island of Honshu, will host the commission's 54th annual meeting. In a secret ballot, Japan scored 19 votes to New Zealand's 10. © 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ------------------------------- Sweden says IWC decision won't mean return to commercial whaling Sweden says a decision by the International Whaling Commission to prepare a revised management scheme on whaling, will not fast-track a return to commercial hunting. The IWC decided to press ahead with preparing a draft Revised Management Scheme in time for next year's conference in London. Japan has welcomed the move, saying once the management plan is adopted next July, there should be no legal or scientific barriers to prevent commercial whaling. But Swedish government spokesman Bo Fernholm says the plan is a first step towards giving the commission real power to regulate the industry. It's good for the IWC to move ahead to reach some results on the RMS which is a tool that they will need if they were to regulate whaling and we think that the IWC is the international organisation that should regulate whaling. We are unhappy with the present situation where whaling goes on without IWC control. " © 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ------------------------------ Whaling opponents call for end to Japanese scientific whale hunt Japanese delegates were jeered by protesters when they attended the opening session of the International Whaling Commission on Monday >From CNN July 6, 2000 Web posted at: 10:23 a.m. HKT (0223 GMT) ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) -- A 40-nation conference passed a resolution Wednesday that could lead to the resumption of some commercial whaling, after a 14-year moratorium on the practice. The 52nd meeting of the International Whaling Commission agreed that a management plan for limited commercial whaling should be completed by February, which would enable a vote at next year's annual meeting in London. The nations that backed the proposal said their vote did not mean they would necessarily endorse a resumption of whaling at next year's IWC meeting. But observers said it was a step toward the IWC taking a more pragmatic approach to growing demands for a whaling renewal. They also noted that many states could ultimately be prepared to trade off tightly regulated, small-scale whaling in coastal regions for a permanent global ban on high-seas whaling. Japan welcomed the proposal. " We saw some progress. The proposal from those 10 countries is a good indication toward the resumption of limited commercial whaling, " Japanese spokesman Joji Morishita said. Meanwhile, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia on Wednesday slammed Japan's controversial scientific whaling program as unscientific. The Japanese government issues fishermen yearly permits to hunt whales for scientific research. Last season, their fleet killed more than 400 minke whales. Under Japan's proposals for this year, their whaling fleet would also catch Bryde's and sperm whales. Many whales migrate annually from sub-Antarctic feeding grounds to breed in wamer waters along Australia's coasts In a proposed resolution to the IWC calling for a halt to the hunting, 10 member nations said Japan's latest plan to catch whales for science would not gather useful data and " revealed many methodological problems. " Although the IWC, of which Japan is a member, imposed a moratorium on all commercial whaling in 1986, it allowed member states to grant fisherman licenses to harpoon whales for research. Conservationists say Tokyo uses the catch to continue supplying the multimillion-dollar market for whale meat, which is considered a delicacy in Japan. " Scientific whaling is commercial whaling in disguise. It provides a cover for an illegal trade in protected species, " said International Fund for Animal Welfare whale biologist Vassili Papastavrou. Copyright 2000 The Associated Press --------------- >From the Times of India Japanese whaling programme slammed ADELAIDE: Several nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, on Wednesday slammed Japan's controversial scientific whaling program as unscientific and urged Tokyo to scrap it. But at the same meeting of the International Whaling Commission, a proposal to speed up the drafting of a new management scheme for limited commercial whaling was passed - a move Japan welcomed. " We saw some progress. The proposal from those 10 countries is a good indication towards the resumption of limited commercial whaling, " Japanese spokesman Joji Morishita said. The nations that backed the plan said their support vote did not mean they would vote for a resumption of whaling at the next IWC meeting, next year in London. Observers said the move was a step toward the IWC taking a more pragmatic approach to growing demands for a resumption of whaling. Many states would ultimately likely be prepared to trade off tightly regulated, small-scale whaling in coastal regions in return for a permanent global ban on high-seas whaling. The resolution, proposed by Sweden, South Africa, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Mexico, Oman, Spain and Switzerland, called on the IWC to finalize the management plan by next February, which would enable a vote on commercial whaling at next year's annual meeting in London. Earlier, Japan came in for more criticism for its whaling programme. The Japanese government issues permits each year for its fishermen to hunt whales for scientific research. Last season, its whaling fleet killed more than 400 minke whales. In a proposed resolution to the IWC calling for a halt to the hunt, 10 member nations said Japan's latest plan to catch whales for science would not gather useful data and " revealed many methodological problems. " Although the 40-nation IWC, of which Japan is a member, imposed a moratorium on all commercial whaling in 1986, it allowed member states to grant licenses to its fishermen to harpoon whales for research. Conservationists charge Tokyo with using the catch to continue supplying the multimillion dollar market for whale meat, which is considered a delicacy in Japan. In the proposed resolution, the IWC is called on to " strongly urge the government of Japan to refrain from issuing special permits for whaling. " Under its proposals for this year, Japan's whaling fleet would catch not only minke but also Bryde's and sperm whales. United Kingdom commissioner Elliot Morley condemned the expanded programme. " The proposal lacked scientific details, it was very unconvincing and the idea that whales are threatening fish stocks is utterly insignificant, " Morley said. International Fund for Animal Welfare whale biologist Vassili Papastavrou said the scientific program was simply a front for commercial whaling. " Scientific whaling is commercial whaling in disguise. It provides a cover for an illegal trade in protected species, " he said. The IWC is holding its 52nd annual conference in the southern Australian city of Adelaide. The resolution was tabled by the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States. (AP) ------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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