Good news for whales
Well, a string of good results from the IWC today. Japan lost their bid to resume commerical whaling, and by a decent margin (29 against, 23 for, with a three quarter majority needed to pass). They also lost a bid to resume hunting mink whales, and to remove a decade old whale sanctuary (no hunting, full stop, scientific or otherwise) in Antarctic waters. Finally, Australia championed a “non-binding resolution” condemning Japan’s “scientific whaling” program.
Basically, the commission is very much anti-whaling, and it seems unlikely that Japan (or other pro-whaling nations, such as Denmark) are going to be able to get the resolutions they want passed. This has lead Japan to threaten to withdraw, which would be a bad day for whaling. Actually, I don’t really understand why they’re still in/ever in the commission - what do they get out of it? Anyone know? I assume that international politics plays a role…
Another Japan sponsored vote was the introduce secret balloting (see Wikipedia) which would let countries anonymously vote without revealing their position - perhaps encouraging smaller countries to vote for whaling, an clearly unpopular decision. Again, it was rejected by the committee, and while I do appreciate the positives of secret ballots, I don’t think it’s appropriate here.
The bottom line is I can’t see how this can continue - Japan seems desperate to resume whaling, presumably at the behest of the rich/business types which have the money to afford whale and to have political clout. It would require the Japanese parliament to vote to leave the IWC, and we have to hope that there’s enough members who care about their planet not to let that happen.
Dave Barry Says:
while I do appreciate the positives of secret ballots, I don’t think it’s appropriate here.
It sounds like you don’t think it’s appropriate because it could lead to decisions that you don’t agree with. I wouldn’t agree with a re-introduction of commercial whaling either, but I agree with the principle of secret ballots, and this takes precedence over my personal views on the matter.
Though this is rapidly getting off-topic, I am willing to be persuaded that countries shouldn’t be allowed to keep their votes secret to their own people on any issue in an international forum.
You mentioned Denmark. Not having checked, I would guess that Denmark voted with the rest of the Nordic bloc, but it is Norway that does most of the whaling there.
Sorry, I just dont get this debate… But being Norwegian I admit that I’m subjective.
In norwegian water the estimated number of minke whales is well above 100k. (1997 study?)
That is more than enough to sustainably support the strictly controlled catching
of some 250 whales per year (can’t remember the exact numbers, but those are ballpark)
So there is no real scientific basis for not allowing controlled commercial whaling as far as I can see.
I know Greenpeace will tell you different, but will not be able to produce anything serious to support the argument.
Remember that the whaling issue is Greenpeace’s biggest revenue generator (after free willy),
so they are even less objective than the norwegians on this issue.
If the debate is about whales intelligence, studies show that minke whales (the only sort hunted by norway) is comparable to that of cows so dont give me that ‘but they are so clever, just look at willy!’
There are hefty fines involved if the whale is not killed quickly and painlessly. More so than the poor cows.
I guess it’s just what people are used to: Norwegians have been hunting whales, for an abundant population, for a thousand years, but I understand people in the US get confused when watching discovery and greenpeace ads.
In fact this debate is similar to seal-hunting (allthough seals are actually a pest that is killing of the north sea fish population), because people are letting irrational and emotional factors decide their stance.
Does the furry/fuzziness of an animals fur or the size of its eyes (ie the esthetic appearance) determine the worth of an animal? Like kangaroos, for instance. In norway we think they are so cool and cute, because thats how they look on TV, and to us they seem exotic.. How do you think ozzies would feel if the international community banned all killing of kangaroos, despite their numbers… Just coz we seem to think they are more worth than other animals
Again, the norwegians really do care about their nature and resources, and manages it much more consciously than almost any other country. If you want to save the world and its animal inhabitants, try to get Bush on board with Kyoto and pollution. You’ll save more animals that way…
Sorry for the rant, just had to throw in my $0,02..
Alex