Guest guest Posted July 19, 2001 Report Share Posted July 19, 2001 You may have seen some of these posts before. However, I'm sending them as a digest as the IWC is meeting this week, a return to global commercial whaling is in the works, led by Japan and Norway, and this series of posts is important to fully understanding the threats to the great whales. Please bear with me on this. Please see www.stopwhalekill for more information on this and in particular the reactivated gray whale hunt in Washington State. Dian There are 9 messages in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. IWC scientific committee wraps up discussion on minke whales " WID News " <gclarke 2. Pacific Whale Sanctuary Looks Beached " WID News " <gclarke 3. Japan admits trading Whale Votes " WID News " <gclarke 4. DNA Detectives Say Endangered Whale Sold in Japan " WID News " <gclarke 5. Japanese Official Defends Whaling " WID News " <gclarke 6. Japan Denies Remarks on Whaling 'Vote-Buying' " WID News " <gclarke 7. Nordic Airlines join Whale Blubber Ban " WID News " <gclarke 8. Blue Murder " WID News " <gclarke 9. Fishermen urged to accept Whale Protection Reforms " WID News " <gclarke ______________________ ______________________ Message: 1 Thu, 19 Jul 2001 01:09:44 -0000 " WID News " <gclarke IWC scientific committee wraps up discussion on minke whales IWC scientific committee wraps up discussion on minke whales LONDON, July 16, Kyodo - The Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on Monday wrapped up a two- week meeting to assess the stock of minke whales in the Antarctic Ocean, an issue that has widened the rift between whaling nations like Japan and those protesting whale hunts. After a one-day break, the IWC will convene four days of panel meetings -- including one to map out management guidelines for commercial whaling -- before convening a four-day annual meeting in London next Monday. The Scientific Committee, where debates were conducted behind closed doors, is expected to release its findings at the IWC meeting. In 1991, the committee set the population of minke whales in the Antarctic Ocean at 760,000, giving the Japanese whaling industry scientific grounds to press for a resumption of commercial whaling. Anti-whaling nations, however, have complained that the figure is too high, arguing that the estimate was based on insufficient scientific data. The Japanese government argues that even if the stock of minke whales is revised down to 500,000, that would still be high enough to justify commercial whaling. The main focus of IWC panel work -- scheduled to run from Wednesday through Saturday -- will likely be on the drafting of a set of management guidelines under the so-called Revised Management Scheme to regulate commercial whaling. Anti-whaling IWC member countries want to give international inspectors on board whaling ships the authority to crack down on illegal whaling. They also want legal power to regulate whale meat markets. Japan and Norway, both whaling nations, have rejected the proposals as beyond ''common sense.'' 2001 Kyodo News © Established 1945. ______________________ ______________________ Message: 2 Thu, 19 Jul 2001 01:21:00 -0000 " WID News " <gclarke Pacific Whale Sanctuary Looks Beached Pacific Whale Sanctuary Looks Beached SYDNEY, Australia, 17 July, 2001 - 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. ______________________ ______________________ Message: 3 Thu, 19 Jul 2001 01:37:56 -0000 " WID News " <gclarke Japan admits trading Whale Votes Japan admits trading Whale Votes ASIA-Pacific, 18 July, 2001 - Japan has acknowledged publicly that it uses overseas aid to secure support for its campaign to have the international ban on whaling lifted. (Greenpeace protesters attack a Japanese whaling ship. Photo in Files: 1444818_minke.jpg) Fisheries ministry head Maseyuku Komatsu said Japan needed to use diplomacy and overseas aid because it lacked other ways, such as military might, to influence other countries. He told Australian television he saw nothing wrong in doing so. (Minke whales are caught for " research " . Photo in Files: 1444818_research150.jpg) Correspondents say a number of South Pacific and Caribbean countries are thought to have accepted aid in return for backing Japan's efforts to get commercial whaling restarted. Six Caribbean countries voted with Japan last year on virtually every motion at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Adelaide, including rejecting an Australian move to create a whale sanctuary in the South Pacific. Mr Komatsu said: " Japan does not have military powers, unlike the US or Australia. You may dispatch your military power to East Timor. " Japanese means are simply diplomatic communication and overseas development aid (ODAs). " So, in order to get appreciation of Japan's position, of course, that is natural we must resort to those two major tools. I think there is nothing wrong. " Later, an official from the fisheries ministry in Toyko denied Japan bought support for its position. The official said Japan gave aid to 150 countries and some of the biggest recipients, including India and Argentina, were strongly opposed to whaling. Minke 'too numerous' Mr Komatsu referred to minke whales, which Japan is allowed to catch under a scientific research programme, as " cockroaches of the oceans " . (Whales attract tourists to Dominica. Photo in Files: 1429955_whale.jpg) Asked what he meant, he said they were too numerous and quick. New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark said: " Japan must surely be embarrassed by the revelation from one of its own senior officials. " When put alongside Japan's long-standing but spurious assertions that it is taking large numbers of whales for purely scientific and research purposes, this confirmation of Japan's tactics shows the desperate lengths it will go to maintain whaling. " If Japan is indeed indulging in the sort of behaviour alluded to by Mr Komatsu, it can only underline the bankruptcy of its stance on whaling. " 'Extortion' Dominica is one of the Caribbean countries that faces accusations that it is sacrificing its reputation as a guardian of wildlife in return for Japanese cash. Dominica's Environment Minister, Atherton Martin, resigned last year in protest against what he saw as proof that his country had been bribed by Japan to support it in an IWC meeting. He told the BBC at the time: " They announced that if they couldn't get Dominica to come along with them, they would have to place Dominican projects under review. " If that is not an extortion by the Japanese Government, I don't know what is. " They are saying, 'You either go with us or we pull the aid.' " The IWC is about to meet again in London, UK. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia- pacific/newsid_1444000/1444818.stm Copyright BBC. ______________________ ______________________ Message: 4 Thu, 19 Jul 2001 01:43:27 -0000 " WID News " <gclarke DNA Detectives Say Endangered Whale Sold in Japan DNA Detectives Say Endangered Whale Sold in Japan LONDON, 18 July, 2001 (Reuters) - DNA detectives discovered meat from endangered whales on sale in Japanese food markets, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said on Wednesday. The scientists said they found meat from protected humpback, fin and sei whales on sale. Their research also revealed horse and dolphin meat is being passed off as whale meat. The researchers, who have presented their evidence to the International Whaling Commission (news - web sites), purchased a total of 129 samples from whale markets and subjected them to DNA analysis. ``This new research finally reveals the truth -- that so-called scientific whaling is providing a cover for the illegal trade in endangered species,'' the IFAW's Japan representative Naoko Funahashi said in a statement released in London. Japan, where whale meat is a delicacy, is one country allowed under a 15-year-old international moratorium to catch a certain number of whales for scientific research. Environmentalists argue that carefully controlled whale-watching for tourists offers a financially viable alternative to hunting, with nine million whale enthusiasts generating record revenues of $1 billion in 2000. http://dailynews./h/nm/20010718/sc/environment_whales_dc_2.ht ml 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. ______________________ ______________________ Message: 5 Thu, 19 Jul 2001 01:50:35 -0000 " WID News " <gclarke Japanese Official Defends Whaling Japanese Official Defends Whaling CANBERRA, Australia, 18 July, 2001 (AP) - Japan's fisheries chief denounced efforts to curb the country's whaling industry, calling the species of whale most often killed by its fishermen the ``cockroach'' of the sea. He defended Japan's use of foreign aid to influence international whaling policy. Japan kills about 500 whales a year under a scientific whaling program, and is campaigning for a rollback of a 1986 worldwide ban on commercial whaling. Fisheries agency head Masayuki Komatsu said Japan had to use the ``tools'' of diplomacy and promises of overseas development aid to influence members of the International Whaling Commission to vote against restrictions on commercial whaling. ``Japan does not have military powers, unlike the U.S. or Australia,'' he said in an English language interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio. ``In order to get appreciation of Japan's position, of course, it is natural we must resort to those two major tools.'' ``I think there is nothing wrong,'' Komatsu said, adding that the minke whale, the species most commonly killed by Japanese whalers, was ``a cockroach in the oceans.'' ``There are too many,'' he said. Six Caribbean countries voted with Japan last year on nearly every motion at the International Whaling Commission, including the defeat of a joint Australian-New Zealand proposal to create a South Pacific whale sanctuary. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark reacted angrily to Komatsu's comments, accusing Japan of bribing poorer nations to support its campaign to overturn the global moratorium on commercial whaling. ``This confirmation of Japan's tactics shows the desperate lengths it will go to in order to maintain whaling,'' Clark said in a statement. Japan has been under suspicion for some time of effectively buying the support of poorer countries, she said. ``Japan must surely be embarrassed by today's revelation from one its own senior officials,'' Clark added. Clark's government strongly opposes the Japanese scientific whaling program, and will again pursue a proposal for whale sanctuaries in the South Pacific and South Atlantic through the IWC. This year's IWC meeting begins in London on July 23. ``We are more determined than ever to protect the great mammals of the ocean in perpetuity, and today's admission by Japan underlines the urgency of this task,'' Clark said. Copyright 2001 Associated Press ______________________ ______________________ Message: 6 Thu, 19 Jul 2001 02:54:57 -0000 " WID News " <gclarke Japan Denies Remarks on Whaling 'Vote-Buying' Japan Denies Remarks on Whaling 'Vote-Buying' By Teruaki Ueno TOKYO, 18 July, 2001 (Reuters) - Japan, the world's biggest consumer of whale meat, denied on Thursday that a senior fisheries official had said Tokyo handed out aid money to win backing for its campaign to lift an international ban on whaling. An internal Japanese Fisheries Agency document obtained by Reuters said agency official Masayuki Komatsu had not said in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp that Japan used the inducement of development aid to win support from poorer nations. Komatsu's comments were expected to draw an angry response from countries opposed to whaling at the annual general meeting of the International Whaling Commission (news - web sites) in London next week. The Fisheries Agency had checked with Komatsu on whether he had actually made the remarks, the document said. ``After checking with Komatsu, we found that there was no truth to such remarks,'' it said. ``We understand that he said something about aid in general and this was designed to raise international confidence in Japan,'' it said. Komatsu told ABC that he saw ``nothing wrong'' in using aid as an inducement to secure backing and that it was a major tool in Japan's campaign. ``Japan does not have military power, unlike the United States and Australia,'' Komatsu said. ``Japanese means are simply diplomatic communication and overseas development aid. So in order to get appreciation of Japan's position, that is natural we must resort to those two major tools.'' Komatsu said several countries had accepted aid in return for backing Japan's efforts to get commercial whaling restarted. JAPAN FIGHTS BACK The Japanese Fisheries Agency said, however, that Tokyo had extended economic aid to more than 150 countries, including anti-whaling nations such as India and Brazil. ``The fact that the recipients of Japanese aid include those countries which stand against whaling clearly shows that the aid from our country does not influence their policies,'' the internal document said. ``The report makes it sound as if a country's policy can be traded for money and insults the recipients of our aid,'' it said. ``This is truly regrettable.'' Japan, where whale meat is a delicacy, is allowed under a 15-year-old international moratorium on commercial whaling to catch a certain number of whales for scientific research. Environmental groups have argued that some of the whale meat ends up being used by Japan's restaurant industry. Six Caribbean countries helped Japan to defeat a joint Australian-New Zealand proposal for a South Pacific whale sanctuary at last year's IWC AGM. The commission will vote on the proposal again this year. http://dailynews./h/nm/20010718/sc/environment_japan_whaling_ dc_1.html 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. ______________________ ______________________ Message: 7 Thu, 19 Jul 2001 03:19:50 -0000 " WID News " <gclarke Nordic Airlines join Whale Blubber Ban Nordic airlines join whale blubber ban OSLO, Norway, 17 July, 2001 (Reuters) -- Scandinavian Airlines Systems and Finnair joined a growing number of carriers Tuesday which refuse to carry Norwegian whale meat exports on their aircraft. " We've had an internal discussion on this issue, and we came to a solution that we would not do this, " Trine Lovberg, a spokeswoman at SAS, told Reuters. " Finnair is refraining from the transport of whale meat, blubber or other whale products on its aircraft. With this announcement, Finnair has joined the growing number of airlines taking a stand on whale product transportation, " Finnair said in a statement. " Finnair supports efforts for the conservation of endangered whale species as stated in international conventions, " it said. Similar pledges were made earlier this month by 21 major airlines which said they would not carry Norwegian whale meat exports, according to environmental group Greenpeace. " Today we do not have any aircraft which is only used for this kind of cargo, but the (Norwegian) government and also Greenpeace had asked for an opinion on this issue, " Lovberg said. Norway in April made a unilateral decision to resume exports of whale products to Japan, and pressed to have a ban on Minke whale hunting overturned, claiming there are enough Minke whale for commercial hunting. In Japan, the outer fat of the Minke is considered a delicacy. Norwegians also eat whale meat but do not like the blubber. Finnair flies to Oslo, Bergen and Lakselv in Norway. In Japan, Finnair flies to Tokyo twice a week. Norway resumed commercial whale hunting in 1993 despite a global moratorium by the International Whaling Commission and protests from environmental groups including Greenpeace. http://www.cnn.com/2001/TRAVEL/NEWS/07/17/airlines.norway.whale.reut/i ndex.html Copyright 2001 Reuters. All rights reserved. ______________________ ______________________ Message: 8 Thu, 19 Jul 2001 03:36:21 -0000 " WID News " <gclarke Blue Murder BLUE MURDER 18 July, 2001 - The Mirror Only 400 giant whales left as warming wipes out food THE magnificent blue whale - biggest creature on the planet - is facing extinction as its population plummets to as low as 400. Global warming is wiping out its main food source after an onslaught by hunters in the last 100 years. Numbers have fallen from about 250,000 a century ago to fewer than 1,000 and possibly just 400, the World Wide Fund for Nature warned yesterday. It wants urgent action from a climate-change conference now being held in Germany and a London meeting of whaling chiefs next week. WWF whale specialist Stuart Chapman said: " If anything should get politicians to sit up and take notice it is the loss of this creature. " We don't need the movies to go back to the scale of the pre-historic age - it is there with the blue whale, three times bigger than the biggest dinosaur, the brontosaurus. " It weighs up to 160 tons and is 100ft long. Even at birth it is bigger than any land creature. Now the blue whale's main food - krill plankton - is scarce because of the melting polar ice cap. Minute marine algae from the sea ice were fed on by krill, which are also being increasingly used as fish bait. It could be the final blow for the blue whale after the slaughter of tens of thousands during the 20th century. Documents found after the fall of the Soviet bloc showed the Russian Navy hunted them until 1980, 15 years after a worldwide ban was put in place. http://www.ic24.net/mgn/THE_MIRROR/NEWS/P17S1.html © MGN, Ltd, 1997, 2001 ______________________ ______________________ Message: 9 Thu, 19 Jul 2001 03:56:39 -0000 " WID News " <gclarke Fishermen urged to accept Whale Protection Reforms Fishermen urged to accept Whale Protection Reforms ADELAIDE, 18 July, 2001 - A whale protection group says tougher fishing restrictions in the Great Australian Bight should not damage the fishing industry and could actually help honest operators. The Federal Government is considering a range of reforms to strengthen whale protection in the wake of the death of a whale which became entangled in a fishing net. Margi Prideaux from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society says tougher surveillance is one example of what is needed, but but such reforms should not be feared by the industry. " It's something that should be providing extra security for the fishing industry that's doing the right thing, while frightening those that might not be, " she said. " I don't actually see us being poles apart. I think that we should all be in the same camp on this one. " http://www.abc.net.au/news/regionals/port/regport-18jul2001-4.htm © 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ______________________ ______________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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