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The New Zealand Government should follow Australia's lead and call for a gradual phasing out of whaling when it meets with members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) at a special meeting in Florida on 2nd and 3rd March, the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) said today.
WSPA New Zealand's Programme Manager, Bridget Vercoe, said the Australian proposal called for an end to whaling in the Antarctic Ocean within five years, and a phasing out of all other whaling worldwide - with the exception of aboriginal subsistence whaling - within a reasonable time period.
"WSPA warmly congratulates the government of Australia for its visionary and holistic proposal to secure a future for both whales and the IWC. Set against the disastrous proposal released by the IWC on Tuesday which would see commercial whaling legitimised and endorsed, it is encouraging that Australia is standing firm in its conviction to bring a permanent end to commercial and 'scientific' whaling."
"If the New Zealand Government really cared about the welfare of whales it would reject the IWC proposal in favour of the Australian," she said.
"The IWC proposal is littered with inconsistencies - keeping the moratorium in place but allowing commercial whaling, creating new whale sanctuaries but allowing whaling in existing ones. In attempting to please the three countries who doggedly persist in whaling, it will undoubtedly displease the many IWC member nations who wish to see the IWC protect whales, not whaling.
"Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about this proposal," said Ms Vercoe, "is that it suggests that considerable additional costs of monitoring and managing these whaling operations should be met by all IWC members. It's hard to imagine New Zealand taxpayers being happy to find themselves helping fund commercial whaling."
Last year more than 13,000 New Zealanders added their name to a statement telling the Government to reject any proposal which would effectively lift the moratorium on commercial whaling.
"We hope the Government will listen to this strong message from the New Zealand public," said Ms Vercoe.
`Over the last twenty years the whaling nations have met with global condemnation for flouting the whaling ban and killing over 25,000 whales. To now reward this behaviour by offering up yet more whales is tantamount to waving the white flag of defeat.
Notes to editors:
? The full proposal is publicly available on the website of the IWC: http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/commission/future/IWC-M10-SWG4.pdf
? WSPA is part of Whalewatch, a global network of 50 non-governmental organisations united by a common opposition to whaling on welfare grounds.
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Comments
Don't see why New Zealand
Don't see why New Zealand should follow the steps of
Australia. Having worked on the comittee to put together
the IWC proposal they now submit a propsal counter to it.
Australia has taken the first step towards getting kicked
out of the IWC and how that helps whales is a mystery.
Clearly whaling is dying a slow death and tying to kill it
by force only causes it to resist and keep trying to survive.
Steps should be taken one at a time to bring whaling to a
close. Starting a fight with the IWC is infantile behavior.
Oh for goodness sakes -
Oh for goodness sakes - playing politics around this issue is tiresome and nauseating. Its about time that politicians grew a spine and acted the way that their population require - with character and backbone.
Screw Japan and its whaling. What they need is an international anti-whaling day in which NOBODY buys a single Japanese product, gizmo or car. It would cost them a fortune, be a shot across their bows, and it might wake them up that they are losing face internationally about this issue, and are becoming a pariah in the ecological sense.
If reason does not work, why not sanctions?
I personally feel strongly enough about it to rather buy an alternative product. At least there are enough alternatives now. Korean and Chinese products can compete.
Boycotts and sanctions are
Boycotts and sanctions are easy to say but hurts your own economy
as well. Governments have far far more resonsibility to the country
and the people than to the cause of whales. At least most us
hope so. Reason does work when both parties are willing to
be reasonable. Anti-Whalers need to understand that their cause is
not the be all and end all for everyone else.
Does ramming protest boats
Does ramming protest boats seem reasonable? For dog meat?
Reason time is finished. And I am not saying that governmnets must officialy sanction Japan. But consumers definitely can, and it wont hurt them. It must just be coordinated to occur on the same day - that will give them a shot across the bows so to speak.
The first time Japan used
The first time Japan used Article VIII to justify whaling was in 1976. The IWC had just set the catch quota for Bryde’s whales to zero for purposes of conservation. Japan responded by issuing itself a science permit and proceeded to kill over 200 Bryde’s whales that season. Afterwards the IWC passed resolutions requiring any future use of Article VIII to be first evaluated by the IWC scientific committee.
In the mid 70s and 80s Japan and other embattled whaling nations (including the Soviet Union) fought the establishment of a global moratorium (despite the fact that the UN had passed a resolution in 1972 declaring a 10 year moratorium should be enacted). After a series of votes a moratorium was passed in 1982 and went into effect in the 85/86 season but Japan objected to it officially and continued to take whales under objection. This is normal under the rules of the ICRW (International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling).
The United States threatened Japan with economic sanctions including loss of access to Alaskan fisheries worth over $400 million USD. In negotiations, Japan agreed that it would stop commercial whaling by 1988 for access to these fisheries. However, Japan was busy preparing and presenting plans for “scientific research” to the IWC scientific committee.
The committee rejected the research proposals (submitted before 1988). And despite this, in the 87/88 season Japan started its research whaling program JARPA. Due to pressure from US fishermen and environmental groups Japan lost access to US Alaskan resources anyway in 1988. US President Ronald Reagan declared Japan was in violation of IWC regulations and officially sanctioned Japan under the Packwood-Magnuson Amendment in 1988 as well.
Since then, the IWC has almost annually issued resolutions, passed by majority, against Japan’s lethal research methods. Unfortunately, due to the lack of political will to take on Japan over whales and the lack of any punitive mechanism in the ICRW there has been nothing more than talk out of world governments.
Historically, Japan has violated whaling regulations such as size limits, species limits, gender limits, seasonal limits, sanctuary boundaries, and even supported “pirate whaling” (killing whales in secret around the world through front companies with foreign labor to smuggle meat back to Japan without reporting to the IWC).
Does any of this look like important legal science? Does it really look like Japan is honoring international conventions in good faith? The Australian Federal Court didn’t think so and it recently ruled that Japanese whaling in the Australian Antarctic Territory EEZ is illegal. Pete Bethune should be free and exonerated of any charges. The Japanese whaling industry should be shut down and the Shonan Maru 2 captain, the real pirate, should be arrested and put on trial.
This whole thing is
This whole thing is nuts.
THe IWC allows scientific whaling (which we know is all BS) and Japan exploits and absuses that (no one can argue against that.) So the IWC needs some reform too.
Now, the fact Japan spends so much money on a dead industry in which there is no demand for whale meat is beyond me. Especially since theres so much what meat in the deep freeze. (Reports of it being peddled to schools, nursing homes and dog food have surfaced). This is an absolute national disgrace.
Not to mention their tactics and environmental crimes (factory ship, refuelling, dumping of waste etc) in and around Anatartica.
The the ICR / PR machine keeps repeating the same things..."Research","Cultural Tradition","Same as killing cows","Depleting fish stocks","Minke's inhibit recovery of larger whales"... Truly a propaganda machine hard at work.
Im sure their citizens woudl agree - theres more important domestic issues that could do with those funds? Suicide rates, uemployment problems etc etc.
enola gay 1. The Japanese
enola gay
1. The Japanese are whaling in violation of the International Whaling Commission's global moratorium on commercial whaling. The IWC scientific committee does not recognize the research that the Japanese are using as an excuse.
2. The Japanese are killing whales in the internationally recognised Southern Ocean Sanctuary for whales.
3. The Japanese are killing whales unlawfully in the Australian Antarctic Territory (Australian Law - Federal Court judgement January 2008 under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999)
4. The Japanese are targeting fin whales and humpback whales. One is listed as an endangered species and the other listed as a threatened species. This is a violation of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, of which both Japan and Australia are signatories.
5. The Japanese are in violation of IWC regulation 19. (a) The IWC regulations in the Schedule to the Convention forbid the use of factory ships to process any protected stock: 19. (a) It is forbidden to use a factory ship or a land station for the purpose of treating any whales which are classified as Protection Stocks in paragraph 10. Paragraph 10(c) provides a definition of Protection Stocks and states that Protection Stocks are listed in the Tables of the Schedule. Table 1 lists all the baleen whales, including minke, fin and humpback whales and states that all of them are Protection Stocks.
6. The IWC regulations specifically ban the use of factory ships to processy any whales except minke whales: Paragraph 10(d) provides: "(d) Notwithstanding the other provisions of paragraph 10 there shall be a moratorium on the taking, killing or treating of whales, except minke whales, by factory ships or whale catchers attached to factory ships. This moratorium applies to sperm whales, killer whales and baleen whales, except minke whales."
7. the presence of military/ security forces breaches the Antarctic treaty
8. the whaling fleet regularly refuels in the treaty zone below 60 degrees south in breach of the Antarctic treaty. In October 2008 the whaling fleet's refueling and cargo vessel, Oriental Bluebird, was deflagged following a ruling by Panamian Authorities. The maximum fine of 10,000 Balboas (US$10,000) was imposed on the owners of the ship, Hiyo Shipping Co. Ltd, in Japan who on October 8th removed its Panamanian registration and flag. Japan has ratified an international treaty which seeks to end the practice of 're-flagging' vessels in order to circumvent international environmental law.
9. the Whaling fleet fails to submit Environmental Management Plans in case of a maritime disaster in the Treaty zone which breaches the Antarctic treaty. The Nisshin Maru factory ship caught fire in 2007 losing all power including to its engines. One crew member died. An environmental disaster was threatened, but did not eventuate.
1. The Japanese are LEGALLY
1. The Japanese are LEGALLY conducting reseach whaling in accordance with ARticle VIII of the IWC regulations.
2. Recommendations by the IWC not to conduct such research whaling is non-binding.
3. Article VIII specifically allows Research Whaling to ignore any
moratoriums or SANCTUARY designations.
4. Same Article VIII specifically requires any country conducting Research Whaling to "utlize" the whale meat.
5. The Japanese are targeting Minke Whales, a species that is very abundant, NOT ENDANGERED and the numbers of which are considered by some biologists to be a threat to the endangered Blue Whales.
6. The Australian Antarctic Territory is recognized by a mere 4 countries in the world. Not even the United States and Russia recognize it. Australia itself despite having passed domestic laws against whaling is unable to enforce it's laws in that territory
for lack of jurisdiction. Otherwise this preoblem would have ended years ago.
7. Article VIII of the IWC regulations exempts Research Whalking from all regulations which apply to Commercial Whaling including rules pertaining to factory ships.
People need to go to the International Whaling Commision website
and read uder "Scientic Permits". What the Japanese are completely legal, which is exactly why it has continued and only action brought about by the IWC can change it. Even Australia's threat to take Japan to the ICJ is empty as Australia needs to make what they are doing "illegal" first lest the ICJ dismisses their claim. They are doing just that at this weeks Florida meeting by making a proposal conter to the one they themselves helped draft.
“With well over 9,000
“With well over 9,000 minke whales killed in 22 years and no useful data produced, Japan’s so-called ‘research’ in the Antarctic is an international embarrassment.”
Theres an over supply of frozen whale meat going back years. So now they are feeding the meat to their dogs. yeah - dog food. Kill whales for dog food!
I'm sure thats in the history books. Whaling is a cherished Japanese tradition, it's in our heritage! YEAH right scum bags. It's in our culture to hunt whales for dog food. A cherished tradition.
They are brutal killers and their economy is heading for the next lost decade once the world starts boycotting their products... Feels like one huge chip on their shoulders ever since 1945.
You would think with this
You would think with this bad publicity, the Japanese woul drealise what bad face hey are losing. Disgusting, self absorbed, backwards nation...
If whalemeat is ending up as
If whalemeat is ending up as dog food, then that's great news!!!
That means that there is an over supply of whale meat and the
price has dropped to the point that it makes sense to sell it as
pet food. What can really stop whaling? Reducing the demand for whale meat.
>Disgusting, self absorbed,
>Disgusting, self absorbed, backwards nation...
I don't know about that. I never had a pet whale.
But I've had several pet dogs. And they beat them alive
and eat them in Korea.
I live in Tokyo. I am
I live in Tokyo. I am against whaling, but I found there is a quite new restaurant in downtown Tokyo which is serving whale meat. I asked how long the restaurant had been opened, and they told me since last October.
Since new restaurants are opening in Tokyo, serving whale meat, it is clear that there is demand for whale meat.
I don't like whaling, but I don't think it is realistic for New Zealand or Australia to tell the Japanese that they can't eat whales. Regardless of what we may think, they obviously think whale is a type of food. The most constructive tihng we could do is to make sure that they don't kill endangered whales.
I think the IWC proposal makes better sense than the Australian proposal, in this respect. The Australian proposal is obviously never going to be acceptable to the Japanese.