Tough Decisions Ahead for Whaling Community

Delegates gathered for the 61st annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on Sunday, on the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira.

Environmentalist groups like International Fund for Animal Warfare (IFAW) were preparing to campaign hard, to restrict any expansion of commercial whaling.

[Patrick Ramage, Director, IFAW Global Whaling Program]:
„There are only three countries killing whales for commercial purposes in 2009: the governments of Japan, Iceland and Norway. All of them are represented here and will be trying to continue the expansion of their whaling activities in seeking new permissions.”

Ramage noted that Japan wants permission from the IWC to kill whales off their coast in addition to thousands of whales they are killing north of Pacific and the southern ocean sanctuary.

Japan officially observes a 1986 global moratorium on whaling — unlike Norway and Iceland, which ignore it and carry out commercial whaling.

But most of the meat from about 900 whales Japan catches for so called “research purposes” ends up on the dinner table.

Angry animal welfare groups around the world argue that many species face extinction and that explosive harpoons used by whalers can cause horrific suffering.

[Patrick Ramage, Director, IFAW Global Whaling Program]:
„The IWC when it was founded in 1946, the world was a very different place. There have been a lot of changes since then and there are many more threats to whales today. This forum, the IWC, needs to change too. And we are hopeful that it will continue its progress towards becoming a whale conservation body rather than a whalers‘ club.“

Later in the week the IFAW is expected to present its report on the commercial advantages of using whales in tourism rather than continuing to hunt them.

Japan and Norway are giving large subsidies to their whaling industries, which have become unprofitable due to rising costs and a declining demand for whale meat.

Meanwhile, local tour operators in Madeira say whale spotting provides them with a good, steady income.

[Roberto Silva, Local Travel Agent]:
„I believe the world is big enough for everybody, for the animals and for the people. If we know how to make profit with the animals, the animals can be a big business, alive not dead.“

The International Whaling Commission was commissioned in 1946 to regulate whaling and conserve whale stocks.

(NTDTV)