Source: "Whaling in the North Atlantic - Economic
and Political Perspectives," Ed. Gudrun Petursdottir, University of
Iceland, 1997, ISBN 9979-54-213-6. Proceedings of a conference held in Reykjavik
on March 1st, 1997, organized by the Fisheries Research Institute and the
High North Alliance.
Author: Gudrún Pétursdóttir PhD, Director, Fisheries
Research Institute, University of Iceland
The latter part of the twentieth century has seen a tremendous extension of international law and regulations to cover most activities of men on the oceans. Every step forward in this law-making process has called forth disputes amongst and within nations even to the point of military intervention. None of these quarrels have managed to stir much interest outside the nations involved, with one notable exception, that of whaling.
The question of whale-hunting seems to be one of the hottest topics in the whole environmental debate everywhere and one that arouses worldwide public opinion, even in landlocked countries far away from the sea. Environmental organisations and agencies have seized upon this fact to make their campaigns against all whaling a central point in their fund-raising activities - and with great successes.
Among the western-Nordic countries there is however a near-consensus that the management of renewable natural resources must be based upon the principle of sustainability, and that this principle must also pertain to the management of marine mammals. Their point of view is that decisions on whether or not to catch whales should be built upon scientific criteria and ecological considerations.
That was also without doubt the objective of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) signed in 1946, the charter for the International Whaling Commission (IWC). It is still supposed to operate on the principle “to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry.” As is well known, however, the majority of the 40 member states of the IWC have in recent years refused to regulate any whaling whatsoever and instead ordered a complete moratorium on commercial whaling. Other international organisations such as CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) have followed in the wake of the IWC listing most whales as stocks threatened with extinction and thus prohibiting any international trade in products derived from their utilization.
In addition to this the United States Congress has passed a law, The Pelly Amendment, which puts pressure on the US President to impose trade sanctions against any state that diminishes the effectiveness of an international conservation program. Canada, Iceland, Japan, Norway and Russia have all been threatened with economic sanctions due to their whaling activities, although the President has each time decided not to impose them.
All these facts make it highly actual to bring together distinguished
experts to discuss the economic and political perspectives of whaling with
reference to international law and law enforcement, the practices of the
relevant international organisations and the current political climate.
That was the aim of the Fisheries Research Institute of the University
of Iceland and The High North Alliance of Norway when they organized a
conference on Whaling in the North Atlantic in Reykjavík on March
1st 1977. As can be seen in the following proceedings speakers included
prominent representatives of the relevant international organizations as
well as the most poignant critics of the current international regime of
whaling. The conference was meant to be an informative forum for objective
discussion, - not a propaganda affair for or against whaling. I hope that
the proceedings may serve as a helpful guide to those who will have to
make difficult decisions in these matters in the near future.
Gudrún Pétursdóttir PhD, Director
Fisheries Research Institute
University of Iceland