Tuesday, March 2, officials from an ad hoc committee of the International Whaling Commission will meet in St. Pete, FL to discuss a proposal to end the moratorium on commercial whaling in favor of a "limited" catch by whaling nations. The United States was a member of this ad hoc committee that crafted this "compromise."
It has been reported the Obama administration is anxious to push this agenda to break the impasse of IWC nations and mollify the Japanese.
Since the ban on whaling, some 24 years ago, the Japanese and the countries of Norway and Iceland have ignored the ban and despite worldwide condemnation, continued to kill whales, though many years not meeting their quotas under their so called "scientific research" guise. The Japanese have been the most aggressive in defying the ban, routinely hunting whales in the internationally recognized whale sanctuary grounds near Australia.
Update: The draft proposal to be discussed was released to the press but because of the 41 page length it was not printed in the media. The US, a member of the committee drafting the proposal agreed to the first 3 pages of text, as did all members, wherein the chairman of the committee stated, "Retaining the status quo should not be regarded as an option," referencing the whaling moratorium. The remaining 38 pages propose catch limits, kill methods, etc., not yet agreed to.
The entire 41 pages are available in pdf format at the IFAW/whales section.
Apparently, now the administration wants to reward the outlaw whaling nations by legalizing their actions under the cloak of a "reduction" in actual whale kills compared to what occurs now by the illegal whalers. This reasoning begs the question, "Why should we trust these whaling nations to abide by these new restrictions when they ignore the moratorium now and sanction illegal whaling?" Would legalizing commercial whaling only serve to encourage other nations to start whaling? Wouldn't trading sanctions with teeth better serve the issue?
In the decades since whaling was banned, every American administration has supported the ban and fought the reintroduction of commercialized whaling. Even the environmentally regressive Bush administration opposed a return to whaling.
On the heels of this administration's Interior Secretary ignoring scientific evidence and delisting wolves, allowing the systematic extermination of wolves now happening in Idaho and Utah, this development in whaling is particularly disturbing.
With a population of only 300 right whales and disagreements over other whale numbers with pollution, sonar, fishing and shipping increasing pressures on these magnificent creatures, as a world leader we should be opposing whaling instead of encouraging it.
Please take a few minutes to call the White House at 202-456-1414 or 2461 and register your opposition to commercial whaling. You can also call the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121 or the House switchboard at 202-225-3121 and tell your representatives to support the Whale Conservation Act immediately.