Pro- and anti-whaling nations began a four-day meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Sorrento, Italy, on Monday amid growing support for an end to an 18-year moratorium on commercial whaling.
Italian commissioner Giuseppe Ambrosio, who formally opened the meeting, said Italy is opposed to commercial whaling, but that its stance ”is based on great respect for other cultures”.
”We all know that conservation is inextricably intertwined with the sustainable use of resources,” said Ambrosio.
The 56-member IWC is split down the middle between countries opposed to a resumption of commercial whaling, such as the United States, Britain and most European states, and its most enthusiastic backers — Japan, Norway and Iceland.
But Japan, the world’s biggest consumer of whale meat, has welcomed growing support for its call for a return to commercial whaling, which would free it from the shackles of limited whaling for ”scientific purposes” that currently allows it to take hundreds of minke whales a year.
”Since the moratorium, there’s been a resurgence and we feel it has got to be stopped,” said Peter Davies of the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), one of dozens of non-governmental anti-whaling organisations lobbying delegates.
The moratorium was introduced by the IWC in 1986 to prevent the extinction of a number of endangered species, but many newer African and Caribbean members, such as Mauritania, Côte d’Ivoire and Surinam, support Japan’s stance.
Although the balance is tipping in favour of whaling, it would take an unlikely three-quarters majority to overturn the ban.
However, only a simple majority would be seen as a major boost to the pro-whaling states.
Susan Lieberman, director of the WWF global species programme, says even a simple majority would be ”a disaster” for anti-whaling groups, because it could see a major shift within the IWC — a resolution endorsing Japan and Iceland’s scientific whaling instead of condemning it.
Another dark cloud on the anti-whaling lobby’s horizon is the demand by Norway, which wants to extend its catch quota. — Sapa-AFP