IWC 60 - Arrival in Santiago

I arrived yesterday in Santiago de Chile and am slowly settling into whaling mode. I attended a meeting with over 50 NGOs (non-government organizations) today and we discussed what to expect during this week's IWC meeting. There are many issues on the table, but a few of the most volatile issues are Greenland's proposed expansion of their aboriginal hunt to include humpback whales, Japan's expected proposal (again) for an amendment to the schedule allowing "small type coastal" whaling, and the future of the IWC.

I'll start with Greenland's aboriginal subsistence hunt. Their take in recent years has included minke and fin whales and last year was expanded to include one bowhead whale. They are looking to expand their quota to include higher numbers of whales, but also to include humpback whales for the first time. They claim that the population of Greenland is expanding and they need the higher quota to feed their people. The problem is that an aboriginal hunt, as this is supposed to be, should only support the aboriginal people and not the general population. The IWC needs to better define what "aboriginal" and "subsistence" mean in this context so it is clear what is allowed and what is outside the realm of "aboriginal subsistence" whaling.

For the past several years, Japan has proposed a schedule amendment to allow "small type coastal" whaling. They claim that four of their traditional whaling communities have suffered hardship after the moratorium was passed and they should be allowed to whale on a small scale. Japan has even stated that they would take fewer whales in their research hunt to make up for those taken in a small type coastal hunt; therefore, no more whales would be killed overall. This amendment requires a 3/4 majority vote and has failed each year. This year some people think that it might pass as part of a "deal" to eliminate research whaling, but we will have to wait and see what happens during the meeting.

Finally, IWC member countries have been frustrated by the antagonistic environment and general lack of progress at meetings in recent years. There was an intersessional meeting held in London to discuss the procedures of the IWC and the current Chair, Bill Hogarth of the U.S., has also been meeting with other countries independently to discuss the matter. Some people in the NGO community even think that Hogarth has made a "deal" with Japan that will make things run more smoothly this year.

The IWC meeting officially begins tomorrow and we will see what is in store; it is sure to be interesting and likely full of surprises.