SORRENTO, Italy (22 July 2004) -- Opponents of whaling won a victory Wednesday in their battle against the use of grenade-tipped harpoons when the International Whaling Commission approved measures aimed at saving the giant mammals from what animal-rights activists say are slow, painful deaths. Pro-whaling nations at this year's commission meeting insisted that this method of slaughter is quick and usually painless. But the animal-rights view won out, with the 29-22 approval of a resolution proposed by anti-whaling nation New Zealand. The decision highlighted the power struggle within the IWC. "Frankly, I was amazed that any country would vote against it," New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter, who presented the proposal, told reporters. I think this became a political statement between pro-conservation countries and pro-whaling countries," he said. "It shows how polarized the IWC has become." The resolution does not ban grenade-tipped harpoons or impose another slaughter method. Rather, it endorses the view that the technique can cause whales to suffer, and it orders the commission to research different killing methods. "The reality is that whaling does occur. And if whaling is going to occur, at least it should be as humane as possible," Carter said. A ban on commercial whaling has been in place since 1986, but some hunting takes place under a scientific program. Environmentalists say this is just commercial whaling in disguise. "Current whaling methods do not guarantee death without pain, stress or distress," the resolution said. It criticized the methods used to determine when a whale dies or is no longer able to feel pain, and called for updated data on just how long the animals suffer. The resolution also ordered a special committee to look into "establishing better criteria for determining the onset of irreversible insensibility and death; methods of improving the efficiency of whale-killing methods; and reducing times to death and other associated welfare issues." "This is a real victory for whale welfare," says Peter Davies, coordinator of Whalewatch, an anti-whaling umbrella organization. "Far too many whales have suffered and continue to suffer agonizing deaths from the whalers' harpoon." Pro-whaling advocates expressed frustration at the conference. "Japan has been working very hard to improve our killing methods, with positive results, and these have been reported to the IWC," said a spokesman for the Tokyo delegation. "Whale hunting is very humane and the killing techniques are extremely efficient," said Rune Frovik, director of the High North Alliance of whale hunters from Canada, Iceland, Norway and other countries. "Those that are not killed instantaneously lose consciousness and don't suffer any pain." | | Mr. Frovik argued that anti-whaling groups were inadvertently working against their own best interests. By refusing to set overall guidelines on whaling, he said, they ensure that unregulated killing of the animals continues without checks. "They haven't yet really realized that the option of stopping all whaling is impossible. So the second option should be to limit whaling," he said. This position was rejected by Mr. Carter, who said that commercial whaling is not acceptable and that pro-conservation countries represent the majority of people. "Most of mankind does not accept that whaling should occur," he said. On Tuesday, the commission discussed a proposal on standards to be applied if there were a return to commercial whaling. Pro-whaling countries led by Japan support the measure, but many environmentalists oppose any proposal that appears to loosen the moratorium. The IWC meeting, which gathers hundreds of delegates from member-countries as well as environmentalist groups, began Monday and runs through Thursday. Agreement was not easy to find Wednesday, with three proposals on whale sanctuaries failing to pass. New Zealand sought to create a South Pacific whale sanctuary, but it did not win the required three-fourths majority, with 26 delegations in favour and 21 against. "The wishes of the region have been ignored," said Chris Howe, the World Wildlife Fund conservation director for New Zealand. "This sanctuary would have provided enormous benefits to both whales and people in the Pacific." Howe reiterated long-standing charges that Japan bought the vote of smaller nations, saying the proposal was "blocked by countries taking orders from Tokyo." Japan denies the charges. Also rejected was a proposal by Argentina and Brazil to create a new sanctuary in the South Atlantic and one by Japan to close a sanctuary in the Antarctic. The latter move would have allowed Tokyo to kill nearly 3,000 minke whales a year in the area. Japan is the world's prime consumer of whale meat. Like Iceland, it hunts whales for research. But Japan says it wants to resume commercial whaling and promises to do so in a sustainable way. According to the WWF, more than 25,000 whales have been killed by Japan, Norway, and Iceland since 1986. Of these, 8,000 have been killed by Japan under the scientific program. Whalewatch, which gathers 140 non-governmental organizations, estimates that more than 20,000 whales have been killed since the ban on commercial whaling came into force. This year, the coalition estimates, 1,400 whales will be killed. SOURCE - CFCN |
