MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

First time meeting in Chile of Whaling Commission

Hundreds of government officials, scientists and NGO representatives from around the globe will converge at Santiago de Chile's Sheraton Hotel next week for the 60th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC60).

The week-long meeting June 23-27 marks Chile's first time as host and only the third time the body has met in Latin America "For Latin America, this is very important," Elsa Cabrera, Executive Director of the Chile-based Cetacean Conservation Center (CCC), told The Santiago Times. "The Latin American region is increasing its involvement in the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and it is an important bloc in the negotiations to make sure we maintain the moratorium on whale hunting. We're looking forward to Chile being a leader in that process." The IWC, formed in 1946, governs the manner and extent of whaling throughout the world in efforts to ensure conservation of global whale stocks. The commission, whose membership includes government representatives of more than 75 nations, imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. Delegates convene at the annual meetings to outline protections for individual species, designate sanctuary areas, set capture limits, delineate whaling seasons and review scientific research. About 30 protesters greeted arriving meeting participants Thursday morning, undeterred by the cold drizzle. They waved signs and chanted their opposition to the continued commercial hunting of whale species by Japan, Norway and Iceland. "We're here to send a message to the people inside today," said 23-year-old Claudio Valdía. "Industrial hunting is our main concern. We disagree with that completely." According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), more than 30,000 whales of five species have been killed since the 1986 moratorium. Japan continues to kill hundreds of whales each year, exploiting a loophole allowing the killing of whales for scientific research. Much of the hunting takes place in international waters in the Southern Hemisphere, designated by the IWC member states as an official whale sanctuary. "All these Southern Hemisphere countries don't want whaling, but Japan is killing over a thousand whales a year by continuing this bogus 'scientific' whaling," Susan Lieberman, director of WWF International' Species Programme, told The Santiago Times. "It's happening mostly in Antarctic waters, and it's not legitimate science. They take the meat and sell it on the market." During the 2006-2007 season, Iceland killed eight whales under commercial whaling permits and 60 minke whales under "scientific research." Norway conducts a commercial hunt under a legal objection to the moratorium. These activities, including those by Japan, take place without IWC approval and in spite of repeated censure by the commission. Japan has repeatedly, yet unsuccessfully, attempted to re-open commercial trade of whale products. In a recent interview with Chile's El Mercurio, Japanese delegation member Joji Morishita defended his country's activities, saying it presented 187 scientific documents to the IWC between 1987 and 2006. Morishita also said that whales, like other resources, can be used in a sustainable way by humans. Protection for Dolphins and Porpoises? A coalition of environmental groups, including CCC, gathered in Providencia Thursday to protest the hunting of smaller whales (dolphins and porpoises) by Japanese whalers. The gathering featured a screening of "The Rising," a short documentary film on dolphin slaughter in Japan and the related issue of high mercury content in dolphin meat. According to the groups, who all plan to attend IWC60 next week, Japanese whalers have slaughtered nearly a million dolphins and porpoises since the enactment of the moratorium. The film attempts to demonstrate that Japanese officials' assertions that dolphins are killed humanely don't reflect reality. "The Rising" includes footage of juvenile and adult dolphins left alive and wounded for extended periods during the slaughtering process. "It's time for the littlest whales to be considered," said filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, Oceanic Preservation Society executive director. "The argument that it's a sustainable resource is rubbish. The logic falls apart when you look at the final product – it's poison." Psihoyos plans to conduct interviews at IWC60, to be included in the final version of the documentary, scheduled for release in January 2009. Protection Beyond Hunting Bans Many environmentalists attending IWC60 argue that the long-term survival of world's whale species requires far more than hunting bans: threats such as climate change, water pollution, ship strikes, habitat loss and bycatch in fishing nets all deserve action from the IWC, they say. "Let's go beyond a no-killing zone," said WWF's Lieberman. "Let's work with conservationists, fishermen and the tourism industry to establish a network of protected areas. It is time to move the IWC forward into the 21st century and to deal with the broad suite of threats to whales." CCC director Cabrera agreed, saying that catch limits and species recovery plans won't achieve the desired results if they don't take environmental threats into account. Cabrera said her group is especially concerned over the impact of the salmon farming industry on Chile's whale habitat. She argued for negotiations that would lead to a moratorium on the expansion of salmon farming, a reduction in the industry's current activity and stronger regulation of existing operations. By Julie Sutor ( editor@santiagotimes.cl )