LONDON (25 July 2001) -- Japan and other pro-whaling countries on Tuesday blocked an effort to create whale sanctuaries in the South Pacific and South Atlantic. Advocates said the zones would have provided protection that depleted whale populations would need if a 15-year moratorium on commercial whaling is ever overturned. LED BY Australia, New Zealand and Brazil, sanctuary supporters failed to win votes from the three-fourths of the countries at the International Whaling Commission's conference necessary to establish the sanctuary. Lobbying for the South Pacific sanctuary, Australian Environment Minister Robert Hill said that "over the past two centuries of industrial whaling, whale populations in the South Pacific collapsed. The animals, he said, "require protection to allow them to recover to natural levels." Japan and its allies say the creation of sanctuaries has no basis in science. They believe whale populations in many parts of the world are strong enough to withstand some hunting. "The moratorium is in place, so more than adequate protection is provided," said Japanese fisheries counselor Masayuki Komatsu. VOTE BUYING ALLEGED Some conservationists suggested the vote was tainted by alleged Japanese vote-buying. A number of poor countries, including six Caribbean nations, voted with Japan and Norway, another pro-whaling power. Those six nations voted with Japan on nearly every motion at last year's meeting, and new members Morocco and Panama have been supportive this time as well. "This wasn't a vote, it was an auction and Japan was the highest bidder," claimed Mick McIntyre of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Japan has been accused of using foreign aid to win their support, but it and the poor nations deny those charges and say their interests in whaling simply coincide. McIntyre said individual nations can still create protected areas around their waters, and should do so. "... if whales are to be protected ... it is the nations of the region themselves who will have to take the lead from here," he said in a statement. EXISTING ZONES There are two existing sanctuaries for the world's dozen great whale species - from the giant blue whale to the smaller minke - in the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean. There, no whaling is allowed, even for scientific research. The sanctuaries are due for review next year and in 2004, respectively. The whaling countries lost a bid earlier Tuesday to weaken the Antarctic sanctuary. Australia and New Zealand, which offered the South Pacific proposal for the second time, said it would protect the breeding grounds of 11 great whale species. Most, they said, have still not recovered from devastating population declines suffered before the commercial whaling ban was imposed in 1986. | | They said the proposal had strong support from the region's many island nations. Japan and Norway would like to abolish the moratorium and may force a vote at this week's meeting, but they seem unlikely to muster the necessary votes. ICELAND CRITICIZED On Monday, the pro-whaling coalition suffered a setback when 19 of the 38 commission members voted to condemn Iceland for rejoining the group last month and then immediately seeking its blessing to ignore the ban on commercial whaling. Sixteen nations called the vote illegal and refused to take part. Three other nations abstained. Immediately after the vote Iceland was told it could remain but that its membership as on hold and that it would not be allowed to vote ? prompting howls of protest from the floor. Iceland has joined Japan and Norway in lobbying to lift the ban, which the commission approved in 1986. Norway and Japan have consistently opposed the ban, and in 1993 Norway unilaterally resumed the practice. Last January, Norway lifted a voluntary ban on exports of whale meat and blubber. Iceland argues that the rising minke whale population in its waters is literally eating into its vital fish stocks. Minke whales, the smallest of the great whales but which still grow up to a weight of 15 tons, live on a diet of shrimp and small fish. Japan, where whale meat is enjoyed as a delicacy, currently kills about 500 whales a year as part of a scientific whaling program allowed by the commission. Many conservationists say the animals are secretly sold and eaten. Environmentalists, who rallied outside the conference, fear that Iceland's refusal to abide by the commission's rules will cripple the organization whose only real muscle is consensus. "This is a blatant attempt by Iceland to fatally undermine the IWC. If countries chose to follow Iceland's example this could be the beginning of a whaling free-for-all," said World Wildlife Fund spokesman Stuart Chapman. Ireland, which voted to condemn Iceland, agreed. "Ireland cannot accept that any country can become a member without adhering to the fundamental rules and regulations," said delegation head Michael Canny. "It would lead to anarchy in international relations." |
