Whale sanctuaries frivolous, says Japan

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Pacific Whale Sanctuary Looks Beached

 

(CNN-ASIA) CNN.WORLD-ASIA Pacific Whale Sanctuary

Looks Beached

 

July 17, 2001 Posted: 12:41 PM HKT (0441 GMT)

 

By staff and wire reports SYDNEY, Australia --

 

A proposed South Pacific whale sanctuary appears

doomed in the lead-up to a meeting of the

International Whaling Commission (IWC).

 

A move by Australia and New Zealand to

establish the sanctuary is again expected to

fail, having already been blocked by Japan, with

support coaxed from six Caribbean countries at

last year's IWC meeting in Australia.

 

 

The International Whaling Commission (IWC)

meets in London next week to review submissions

for the South Pacific sanctuary and another

proposed by Brazil for the South Atlantic. Both

plans look likely to sink. " The chances for the

sanctuary look very bleak...almost impossible, "

said Cassandra Phillips, policy adviser for the

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which will

lobby the IWC meeting.

 

Australian Environment Minister Robert Hill is

not optimistic given that IWC rules require a

three-quarters majority for the sanctuary

proposals to pass. At last year's IWC meeting in

Adelaide, South Australia, where the South

Pacific sanctuary was first proposed, it was

defeated with only 18 nations in favor, 11

against and four abstaining.

 

" Under the rules of the IWC it is so easily

blocked, and we have no reason for confidence

there has been any substantial movement from

those who voted against our position -- so it is

very difficult, " Hill told Reuters news agency.

 

Sanctuaries deemed 'frivolous'

 

The IWC has approved two whale sanctuaries to

protect feeding grounds in the Indian Ocean and

the Southern Ocean, which lashes Antarctica. But

Japan ignores the sanctuaries, catching 1,000

whales a year in it calls " scientific whaling. "

 

Critics say much of the whale meat ends up on

restaurant tables or supermarket shelves. Japan

has warned that the continued opposition to

commercial whaling by Australia and New Zealand

threatens the very existence of the IWC, which

was established to regulate whaling. " Australia

and New Zealand should leave their frivolous

whale sanctuary proposal at home, " Japan's

government said recently.

 

Environmentalists fear Japan is getting close to

eventually having enough support to overturn a

1986 IWC whaling moratorium. " We are fearful

Japan is looking at loading the IWC with tame

countries and then could get a majority to change

the rules. They are getting fairly close, " said

David Butcher, chief executive of WWF in

Australia. Butcher said Iceland, Russia and Korea

might be waiting in the wings to resume

commercial whaling if Japan was able to end the

moratorium. Pacific islands shunned WWF and

Greenpeace charge Japan with using its large aid

budget to coax small countries to vote its way.

 

" We are very pessimistic on the voting, it looks

as though the whalers may be able to count on

almost half of the 38 or 40 votes this year,

which will make it difficult to get resolutions

criticizing the whalers adopted, " said Phillips.

WWF said new IWC members Panama and Morocco were

expected to vote with Japan, along with Peru if

it can pay back dues and become eligible to vote.

 

 

While the island states of the Caribbean helped

block the new South Pacific whale sanctuary last

year, the islands of the Pacific are not even

members of the IWC. Australia has talked with its

island neighbors about joining the IWC, but the

financial commitment necessary is a burden these

economically struggling nations can ill afford.

 

Whale watching boom

 

As the economic benefits of whale watching grow,

South Pacific island states are beginning to view

the whales as a possible economic lifeline worth

protecting. The South Pacific Forum, which

represents 16 island states, last year endorsed a

proposed whale sanctuary, saying it would not

only protect the breeding grounds of nine species

but also spawn whale watching industries in the

islands.

 

Global whale watching is worth $1.0 billion,

attracting nine million people a year in 87

countries and territories, according to an

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

report.

 

Whale watching in Tonga is estimated to

contribute $1.0 million a year to the island's

economy. " Whales and marine life have become a

focal point for tourism in Tonga today. The more

whales we have in our region the better the

future for our children, " said Tongan lawmaker

Samiu Vaipulu.

 

Reuters contributed to this report.