Calm Before the Storm

It is the evening of Sunday, June 21st in Madeira, Portugal. Tomorrow starts the 61st annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) plenary session. Delegations from over eighty member nations and representatives from approximately 75 non-profit organizations have flooded into the capital city of Funchal. Meetings have been going on for weeks already; scientific committee, various subcommittees and hundreds of small, directed meetings have laid the groundwork for the plenary session where the decisions on the future of whaling will be made.

As in previous IWC meetings, there are a few issues (some that you’ve all heard before) that are going to draw the most attention and possible controversy. One of the most important issues is the future of the IWC. A Small Working Group (SWG) on this issue has been striving to find solutions to the deadlock in the IWC between the pro and anti-whaling contingents. The SWG has urged the Commission to make all decisions by consensus, which for countries that have such divergent views means that any real issues could not be brought to a vote or risk causing strife and hostility.

Since last year’s meeting, the SWG has met multiple times and seemed to be close to a “deal” that would change the direction of the IWC. The deal involved Japan reducing its research whaling program in the Antarctic in exchange for the IWC allowing Japan to start a “small type coastal whaling” program in the North Pacific. The conservation community, including ACS, was outraged by this proposal because the formation of this new category of whaling would completely undermine the commercial whaling moratorium (of 1982) and open the door to other nations starting programs such as these in their own countries. Luckily, the deal fell through when Japan requested too many whales for the small type coastal whaling, but this issue will continue to be a hot button topic.

Another issue for this year’s meeting is that Greenland, which has a subsistence hunt of fin and minke whales, will state an increased “need” for whale meat due to their expanding population. This translates into a proposal for an increased number of whales killed and, more specifically, a proposal to add humpback whales to their quota. Greenland made this proposal last year, as well, and during that meeting it was the spark that ignited the polite, consensus-oriented meeting into the more typical IWC model of animosity and angry speeches. Greenland will push this issue to a vote again this year and the result is likely to be similar to last year.

Other issues that will be discussed include everything from the effects of global warming on cetaceans, Iceland possibly joining the European Union and the possible implications for its whaling program, toxins in whale meat and many more. One exciting development for this year’s meeting is that the anti-whaling nations have a significant majority, which may have an impact on the outcome of the meeting.

There are many more issues that will surely be discussed this year and we’ll have to take those one at a time. Stay tuned to my blog and I’ll guide you through this year’s sure to be exciting meeting of the International Whaling Commission.

-Kate Sardi
Research Chair, ACS