The Government of Iceland announced today that it will give notice of withdrawal from the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. Under the terms of the Convention, withdrawal will take effect on June 30, 1992. The Government pointed out that no decision had been taken concerning a resumption of whaling activities by Icelandic nationals, and that the first priority would be the establishment of a regional organization for the effective conservation and rational management of whales in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The decision to withdraw from the IWC was based, foremost, on the conclusion that the organization had ceased to act in accordance with the management principles of the International Whaling Convention and with the weight of scientific evidence. It was particularly noted that the International Whaling Commission had frequently disregarded the advice of its own Scientific Committee, wherein the health of major populations of whales, including certain stocks in the North Atlantic Ocean, had been demonstrated.
In his remarks on the decision of the Icelandic Government to withdraw from the IWC, the Minister of Fisheries stated, "The economic and social fabric of this island nation overwhelmingly dependent on the health and productivity of the surrounding marine environment. Whales have an important ecological role in the Icelandic Exclusive Economic Zone; they consume more then the amount of seafood that our fishermen harvest. Whales must, therefore, be treated in the same manner as other resources, subject to the same management principles."
The Fisheries Minister went on to state, "It should not be difficult to understand why this Government must respond to the grim reality that the International Whaling Commission is no longer a viable forum for international cooperation on the conservation and management of the whale populations in our region. It is clear that Iceland has no choice but to seek cooperation in this field through the establishment of a new organization for the North Atlantic."
In announcing its withdrawal from the International Whaling Convention, the Government of Iceland emphasized that it would respect the object and purpose of the 1982 convention on the Law of the Sea relating to the cooperative management of whales through appropriate international organizations.
The Icelandic Government considered that the record of the International Whaling Commission in recent years held out no prospect for an improved approach to conservation and management. The Fisheries Minister stated: "The Icelandic Government concluded not only that the Commission would continue to ignore the longstanding management provisions of the Convention, but also that the organization would refuse to adopt more modern principles of living marine resource management in the future. The Government considered that the IWC would insist upon adherence to an approach that fails to address the need for effective conservation and management of the growing whale populations as important elements of the marine ecosystem."
"In sum," the Minister of Fisheries said, "the Icelandic Government concluded that the IWC is, and will remain, an anachronistic and ineffective organization."
The Government of Iceland reaffirmed the importance it attaches to effective environmental protection. At the same time, the Government of Iceland cautions against one-sided attitudes in favour of restrictive protection of individual animal stocks without regard to the broader implications for the marine ecosystems. There are very few nations for which an unpolluted ocean is more important. The Government of Iceland will therefore continue to work actively for the conservation of the oceans and their ecosystems, and will to that end cooperate with nations which share that aim.