Source: High North News, No.11, Nov. 1996, published by the High North Alliance

    IWC Commissioners to Meet in Jan 1997

    According to a letter from the IWC Secretariat to the commissioners, dated November 21, 1996, the chairman of the International Whaling Commission, Australian Peter Bridgewater, has decided to arrange an informal meeting exclusively for the IWC Commissioners in Grenada on January 7-28 . “The meeting will not produce a formal report, but will be an exercise in informal consultation,” says the letter.

    In an earlier communique to the IWC commissioners, this time from IWC Secretary Ray Gambell, the following subjects were proposed for discussion, “Vision of the IWC in 2015, linkages with other relevant Conventions, trade in whale products, aboriginal subsistence whaling and its management, cetaceans and en- vironmental issues” and “small cetaceans and the Commission”. Gambell writes that the primary objective of the meeting is to discuss “issues of interest to the future of the Commission, especially in the context of the upcoming 50th Annual Meeting in 1998”. The idea is “to provide an opportunity for commissioners to consider means to cut through the deadlock which exists on key issues,” says Gambell to the High North Web News.

    As far as the High North News can ascertain, the whaling nations are expected to request that subjects of interest to them, such as the finalisation of the Revised Management Scheme and the lifting of the moratorium on commercial whaling, should also be included on the agenda. The final agenda will be avail-able shortly.

    The idea of arranging such an informal meeting was launched for the first time last year, and was brought up once again by Mexico at this year’s annual meeting of the IWC. The Annual Meeting left it to the chairman to decide whether the idea should be realised, subsequent to correspondence with the individual member countries.

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