WSPA rejects disastrous whale deal

Apr 22, 2010

The deadly proposal has been published by an advisory group of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). It will be voted on at the annual meeting of the IWC in June, in Morocco.

Championed by the United States, it is the result of a 2-year series of negotiations to decide a future for the IWC and resolve conflict between anti- and pro-whaling nations. If adopted, it would effectively lift the 24-year international moratorium on commercial whaling and legitimise whaling for a 10-year period.

WSPA roundly condemns the deal, which fails to acknowledge the fundamental problem with commercial whaling: that it is inherently inhumane.

Over the last twenty years the whaling nations have met with global condemnation for flouting the whaling ban and killing over 25,000 whales. But, if passed, the IWC’s proposal would allow Japan to kill 400 minke and 10 fin whales a year in the waters around Antarctica and 120 animals a year in the North Pacific waters around its coasts. Iceland would be allocated an annual quota of 80 fins and 80 minke whales and Norway an annual quota of 600 minkes. 

WSPA Australia’s Programs Manager, Emily Reeves said: ‘The IWC is bargaining with the lives of whales by simply playing with numbers. A proposal to resuscitate the world’s dying whaling industries would be a huge step backwards for animal welfare and conservation globally. We urge the Australian Government to stand strong and to continue to fight for their alternative proposal – which will afford whales the protection they so urgently need.’

WSPA New Zealand’s Country Manager, Bridget Vercoe said: ‘We urge the New Zealand Government to reject this proposal. It shows just how out of touch the IWC is - it is entirely missing the point that blasting conscious animals with exploding harpoons is grossly inhumane. Commercial whaling is cruel, archaic and unnecessary; it has no place in the 21st century.’

WSPA will be working hard to lobby governments before June to derail this dangerous deal, and instead focus on the IWC’s future as a body to manage whale conservation and whale watching.