|
In 1997, Ireland put forward a
proposal seeking to break the impasse in the IWC. The proposal package consists of five
major elements. The essence of the proposal is on the one hand to allow coastal whaling,
but on the other hand to ban whaling outside these waters, international trade in whale
products and scientific whaling. At the meetings in
1997, 1998 and 1999, there was no real progress made on this proposal. Much uncertainty about
the exact meaning of the various elements exists.
For instance, the proposal says that whaling "should
be restricted to coastal areas only." Does this mean within the 200 nautical mile
Exclusive Economic Zones, the 12 nautical mile fisheries limit, or the 4 nautical mile
territorial zones? Should it be restricted to the continental shelves? Should whaling be
restricted to limited areas adjacent to whaling communities only?
Another element that raises many questions, is that
whaling should be restricted "to nations who are now whaling". Does this mean
that non-IWC members would be permitted to continue the hunt of IWC-whales, like for
instance Indonesia and the Phillipines which are hunting sperm and Bryde's whales? Will
IWC-members that are hunting non-IWC whales be issued quotas for IWC-whales? Will various
Caribbean states that are hunting short-finned pilot whales and various dolphins be
allowed to hunt IWC-whales if they so wished, and would the Faroes be permitted to resume
the hunt for fin whales since the Faroes are now hunting pilot whales? Would the IWC
permit Iceland to resume whaling for fin, sei, sperm and minke whales despite there being
a pause in this hunt since 1989?
A contentious clause in the proposal is that "Quotas
should be issued for local consumption only." In practice this means to ban the
international trade in whale products. The reason to include a trade ban, says Ireland, is
that "this would avoid the pressure on whaling which would arise from international
trade."
This clause puts the IWC at risk of conflict with other
international agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) which regulates trade in wildlife products, including whales, and the
World Trade Organization (WTO). Issues relating to international trade are not mentioned
in the IWC-Convention.
It has been said that there is a precedent for doing this
since the IWC issues aboriginal whaling quotas on the condition that the products are
"for local consumption only", while accepting trade in by-products. It is far
from clear whether this means that IWC would accept export of the Norwegian blubber, which
in Norway's minke whaling is a by-product, with the meat as the main product.
Continuing the precedent of pre-IWC agreements, the IWC
has always had an aboriginal subsistence whaling scheme, althoug formally not written into
the original Convention.
Another element of the proposal is that "Lethal
scientific whaling should be phased out over a period." First it must be noted that
whaling is lethal, if not, it isn't whaling. The IWC-Convention has a specific clause
permitting each member to issue special permits for the taking of whales for
"purposes of scientific research" without having to obtain approval from the
IWC. So agreeing to this element means that IWC-members would be waiving a treaty right.
Such a limitation would exclude the possibility to conduct various research that can only
be done after a whale has been killed.
Included in the Irish package is a request for
"inspection and observation procedures that will engender public confidence."
For several years, much time has been spent on efforts to agree on this. Today, there is a
nationally appointed inspector onboard all the Japanese and Norwegian vessels. But, many
IWC members are also asking that there should be an additional international observer on
board. The disagreement today evolves mostly around who should pay for this, the IWC or
the whaling nations. For several of the Norwegian vessels there is also a practical
problem in accomodating the extra passengers.
The inspection and observation scheme is part of the
Revised Management Scheme (RMS), which Ireland says "should be completed and
adopted."
Ireland has also included a specific element that asks for
regulations for whale-watching. This part has nothing to do with the fundamental conflict
in the IWC, and there seems to be agreement that this is not relevant.
Further reading:
|
