Pew calls upon Japan to send positive signal and co-operate

Santiago, Chile, 27 June 2008.

At the close of the annual meeting of the International Whaling commission (IWC) in Santiago, Chile, the Pew Environment Group said that it continues to support the efforts of the Chair of the IWC to seek a solution to the whale conservation policy impasse caused by the unilateral adoption of so-called scientific catch limits in defiance of the worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling. Pew calls on the IWC to make sure that the voice and input of Non-Governmental Organizations will be heard and made fully a part of the process.

However, the Pew Environment Group believes that for these efforts to bear fruits, it is now urgent that the Government of Japan sends a strong signal that it is willing to reconsider the abuse of the scientific whaling and other loopholes in the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling which governs the IWC.

The orchestrated litany of complaints by pro-whaling countries yesterday 26 June, and their haste to declare the process dead when the IWC exercised its right by not adopting a controversial proposal for a humpback whale quota for Greenland, was not helpful.

Japan has a special responsibility in making sure that the countries in its orbit do not harpoon the process, and to secure a future for the IWC and for the whales.

Note:

The Pew Environment Group engaged in a dialogue with Japan, and organized in January 2008 the ‘Change in Climate for Whales’ Symposium at United Nations University, Tokyo.

Pew at the 60th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile, 22 June 2007

A delegation from Pew is attending the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Santiago, Chile 23-27 June.

Scientists from the Lenfest Ocean Program, established in 2004 by the Lenfest Foundation and administered by the Pew Environment Group to support research and analysis on living marine ecosystems that will be useful to decision makers in formulating solutions to ocean problems, also attended earlier this month the meeting of the IWC’s Scientific Committee. They presented the preliminary findings of a study on the interactions of great whales with fisheries, including the outcome of a regional workshop held in Dakar, Senegal in May 2008.

Pew’s delegation to the IWC meeting arrived earlier last week, and attended an intersessional meeting on the Future of the IWC held on 19-20 June. With its Pew symposia held in New York in April 2007 and Tokyo in January 2008, Pew had encouraged the IWC to be visionary and to look at its future in a new way, seeking to break the perceived deadlock in which the international whale conservation regime finds itself. Pew supports the moratorium on commercial whaling which has been in place for nearly a quarter of century  and views with deep concern the escalating numbers and species of whales being targeted by the three remaining whaling countries through loopholes in the IWC’s regulations.  Pew believes that international whale conservation efforts need to be reinforced and made more effective.

Pew is encouraged by the apparent willingness of all IWC parties to move forward the process that should lead to the modernization of the IWC. Pew urges the IWC to move swiftly in the next twelve months to reach agreement on the modernization of the IWC in ways that will not compromise, but instead reinforce the effectiveness of the moratorium on commercial whaling.

Pew Whales in the Press

BBC Online "Japan blamed on Africa fish fall" 24th June 2008

BBC Online " Time for peace in the whaling world?" 19th June 2008

BBC Online "Tentative steps to whaling peace" 8th March 2008

BBC News "Small signs of a whaling compromise", 27th February 2008

WashingtonPost.com "Summit Urges Whaling Commission Changes", 1st February 2008.

BBC Anchorage IWC meeting wrap up story, "Whaling Fights: Everyone's a winner", 1st June 2007.

BBC Green Room "Moving the Whaling Debate Forward".

Whales in the Media

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