International Whaling Commission & Southern Ocean Whaling Issues

I. Introduction

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which was signed in Washington D.C. on 2 December 1946. The purpose of the Convention is "to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry".

The main duty of the IWC is to keep under review and revise as necessary the measures laid down in the Schedule to the Convention, which govern the conduct of whaling throughout the world. These measures, among other things:

• provide for the complete protection of certain species
• designate specified areas as whale sanctuaries (these sanctuaries currently include the whole of the Southern Ocean south of 40 degrees S, apart from the coastal zones of Chile and Argentina)
• set limits on the numbers and size of whales which may be taken
• prescribe open and closed seasons and areas for whaling
• prohibit the capture of suckling calves and female whales accompanied by calves. The compilation of catch reports and other statistical and biological records is also required.

II. The Southern Ocean Sanctuary

In 1994 the IWC voted 23 to 1 to declare the majority of the Southern Ocean south of 40oS as a sanctuary in which all commercial whaling is prohibited. Japan was the only country to vote against the sanctuary and lodged an objection regarding minke whales. The Southern Ocean Sanctuary came into effect on 6 December 1994 for an indefinite period, and under the Schedule to the Convention, it was reviewed in July 2004 at the 56th meeting of the IWC.

The Southern Ocean Sanctuary provides long-term protection to approximately three quarters of the world's remaining great whales in their feeding grounds. The sanctuary is designed to allow the natural restoration of an ecosystem devastated by commercial whaling. Some whale populations had been reduced to a tiny fraction of their original numbers by commercial whaling. It has been estimated that in 1994 the biomass of whales (total weight or volume of these species in a given area) in the Southern Ocean was only about 10% of what it was prior to exploitation. For example, from an initial population of about 250,000 blue whales, the number estimated to remain number in the low 1000s.

III. The current situation in the IWC

Although the IWC has taken some encouraging steps in changing its emphasis towards conserving and studying whales, Japan and Norway both retain politically influential whaling industries that wish to carry on whaling on as large a scale as possible, and in 2003 they were joined by Iceland.

They are all exploiting loopholes in the Whaling Convention in order to do this in spite of the IWC's indefinite moratorium on whaling, which has been in force since 1986, with over 1,300 whales being caught each year without the IWC being able to control it and with catches rising sharply this year (see JARPA II below). Norway is hunting under its objection to the moratorium, and Japan and Iceland under the guise of "scientific research" as allowed under article 8 of the ICRW. Up to 2004/05, about 440 minkes were hunted each year in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, and the rest in the North West Pacific and around Iceland. Many countries have recently joined the IWC apparently to support the whaling interests, so that there is deadlock, with neither the conservation-minded governments nor the pro-whaling governments able to secure the necessary three quarters majority of votes to make any changes. In practice, whaling is taking place without any international control and escalating rapidly once again.

IV. Japanese Whale Research Programme under Special Permit in the Antarctic (JARPA)

JARPA I (Japanese Research Program Under Special Permit in the Antarctic) was carried out under the Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), which deals with the issuing of scientific permits for whale research. This first Japanese 'scientific' whaling programme in the Antarctic involved killing more than 6,800 Antarctic minke whales over the 18 years up to 2004/05.

In June 2005 Japan announced a second phase, JARPA II, to start this year in the 2005/06 Antarctic season and last for an indefinite period. JARPA II envisions killing 850 +-10% minkes, 50 humpback and 50 fin whales each year in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, after an initial two years in which 850 +-10% minkes and 10 fin whales will be killed. JARPA II's stated objectives include monitoring the Antarctic ecosystem, and the programme may also involve noncetacean predators of Antarctic krill such as crabeater seals, penguins, seabirds and cephalopods.

The stated aims of the JARPAII program are:

1) Monitoring the Antarctic ecosystem;

2) Modelling competition among whale species and developing future management objectives;

3) Elucidation of temporal and spatial changes in stock structure; and

4) Improving the management procedure for the Antarctic minke whale stocks.

Undertaking the ambitious goal of 'monitoring the Antarctic ecosystem' clearly implies attaining an understanding of multi-species interactions, as well as krill biomass, unequivocally bringing JARPA 's aims into the area of expertise and legal responsibility of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Indeed, the 63 IWC Scientific Committee scientists objecting to the JARPAII program earlier this year noted that 'CCAMLR expertise is necessary to evaluate ecosystem interactions such as competition assumptions'.

Scientists concerned about the scientific validity of JARPA II believe it should be subject to an external review and - given the overlap in scientific mandate - the Scientific Committee of CCAMLR is ideally placed to conduct such a review. JARPA II is targeting not only whales, but seabirds, seals and cephalopods, thereby moving into areas directly covered by CCAMLR. CCAMLR bodies have a right to address JARPA II, which encroaches on CCAMLR¡¦s jurisdiction geographically and its substantive legal responsibilities regarding the Southern Ocean ecosystem as a whole. Moreover, given that the International Whaling Commission has repeatedly directed Japan to halt the JARPA II program and condemned its scientific value, the CCAMLR Scientific Committee and Commission arguably have a duty to do what they can regarding JARPA, using CCAMLR's tools.

Although Contracting Parties to CCAMLR have thus far not addressed JARPA issues, ASOC is calling for the CCAMLR Scientific Committee to begin examining the program this year. In particular, ASOC is asking:

for the Scientific Committee at XXIV CCAMLR to consider the following in relation to the JARPA II proposal:

(i) Whether the present proposal meets the highest international standards of scientific credibility in terms of its experimental design, and methodologies;
(ii) Whether the present proposal meets CCAMLR scientific standards, which are generally taken as the appropriate standard for marine research within the Area; and
(iii) Whether there are advantages in the proposal being reviewed scientifically by CCAMLR's Scientific Committee and/or relevant specialist subgroups such as WG-EMM prior to its commencement.

Whales killed pursuant to Japan's special permit whaling provide over 3,000 tonnes of edible products per year, which are sold for commercial purposes. Revenue from the commercial sale of whale meat is estimated to be around $US 50 million annually. Increased whaling as proposed under JARPA II will see a significant rise in these figures.

The IWC has adopted 33 Resolutions on special permit whaling over the years, stating in various documents that this whaling should only be permitted in exceptional circumstances; meet critically important research needs; satisfy criteria established by the Scientific Committee; be consistent with the Commission's conservation policy; be conducted using non-lethal research techniques; and ensure the conservation of whales in sanctuaries.

The most recent Resolution is illustrative of the views held by a large majority of IWC members, stating in pertinent part (emphasis added):

RECALLING that since the moratorium on commercial whaling came into force in 1985/86, the IWC has adopted over 30 resolutions on Special Permit whaling in which it has generally expressed its opinion that Special Permit whaling should: be terminated and scientific research limited to non-lethal methods only (2003-2); refrain from involving the killing of cetaceans in sanctuaries (1998-4); ensure that the recovery of populations is not impeded (1987); and take account of the comments of the Scientific Committee (1987).

ALSO RECALLING Resolution 2003-3 that no additional Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Antarctic (JARPA) programs be considered until the Scientific Committee has completed an in-depth review of the results of JARPA;

FURTHER RECALLING that earlier this year the Government of Japan concluded JARPA - an 18-year program of whaling under Special Permit in Antarctic waters;

NOTING that the results of the JARPA program have not been reviewed by the Scientific Committee this year;

CONCERNED that more than 6,800 Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) have been killed in Antarctic waters under the 18 year of JARPA, compared with a total of 840 whales killed globally by Japan for scientific research in the 31 year period prior to the moratorium;

NOTING that it is the Government of Japan¡¦s stated intention to more than double the annual catch of Antarctic minke whales and also take 50 fin whales (B. physalus) and 50 humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) under the proposed JARPA II program;

NOTING that the Third Circumpolar Survey indicates that the abundance of Antarctic minke whales is substantially lower than the earlier estimate of 760 000, and that the Scientific Committee is working to identify factors contributing to the differences between the two surveys;

CONCERNED that there are no agreed data to indicate that endangered fin whale populations have increased since the cessation of whaling;

ALSO NOTING that some humpback whales which will be targeted by JARPA II belong to small, vulnerable breeding populations around small island States in the South Pacific and that even small takes could have a detrimental effect on the recovery and survival of such populations;

ALSO CONCERNED that JARPA II may have an adverse impact on established long-term whale research projects involving humpback whales;

NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION:

REQUESTS the Scientific Committee to review the outcomes of JARPA as soon as possible;

and STRONGLY URGES the Government of Japan to withdraw its JARPA II proposal or to revise it so that any information needed to meet the stated objectives of the proposal is obtained using non-lethal means.

Japan has ignored this as well as the prior 32 Resolutions while continuing the JARPA program, significantly weakening the ICRW and undermining the IWC's indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling. JARPA whaling also is in direct conflict with the objectives of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary created by the IWC. (See this site for the full IWC Resolution on JARPA II.

V. Other threats to whales

While the debate has raged over "scientific whaling¨ and how best to manage commercial whaling, emerging threats to the future of all cetacean populations have begun to be addressed by the IWC, both within the Commission and its Conservation and Scientific Committees. Among the important issues under consideration have been: conservation of "small" cetaceans (i.e. the smaller whales, as well as dolphins and porpoises); incidental catches in fishing gear (by-catch); whale watching; protection of highly endangered species and populations; whales and their environment (including toxic chemicals and other marine pollution); noise impacts from military and civilian sonars and seismic devices; ecosystem management concerns; sanctuaries; enforcement and compliance; and collaboration with other organisations. These issues, of critical importance to the future of all cetaceans, now constitute a broad and growing conservation agenda within the IWC, reflecting growth and evolution of the Convention since its inception in 1946, and the noise-related issues are being raised regularly within CCAMLR as well. (Read ASOC's Information Paper on Noise Impacts by clicking here .)

Links:

IWC

IWC Whale Sanctuary Page

For a Map of the SOWS (From the IWC)

Humane Society of the United States

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

Greenpeace

Current member nations of the IWC are:

Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina Australia, Austria, Belize , Benin , Brazil, Chile, People's Republic of China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominica, Finland, France , Gabon, Germany, Grenada, Republic of Guinea, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Mexico , Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Palau, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Russian Federation , Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines , San Merino , Senegal, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA.

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