The whaling controversy will continue when the delegates to the 56th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meet in Sorrento, Italy, 19-22 July. At the High North Alliance we have to admit that we are very uncertain about this meeting. We have a feeling that several fundamental processes are approaching a critical junction. Is there something in the air? Or will it just be business as usual, the familiar yelling from the trenches?

Until proven otherwise, expect this meeting to be just the usual talk shop, with nothing of consequence actually happening. But as ever, there could be some hot topics on the agenda:

Where is the Conservation Committee heading?

After having been established amidst great controversy last year, the Conservation Committee will meet for the first time this year. The opponents to establishing such a committee, feared  that the hidden agenda would not be conservation but protectionism of all whales no matter their abundance, an objective that would run counter to the Whaling Convention.

The High North Alliance believes that the committee’s advocates will play things piano this year in order to bring the opponents on board, and thus focus on procedural and bureaucratic issues, leaving more contentious issues for future meetings.

RMS-talks to continue

Despite 12 years of talks, prospects are slim for finalising the discussions on the Revised Management Scheme (RMS), the scheme that was supposed to manage whaling. Neither the anti- nor the pro-whaling side really wishes to see the RMS in place. The anti-whaling camp would then have to accept whaling in principle. Despite having a majority at the IWC, their dilemma is that whaling is on the increase while the IWC is sliding into irrelevancy. On the other hand, pro-whaling nations would have to accept a mediocre regime effectively halting their future sustainable whaling aspirations. Thus, talks are preferred by both camps, so expect agreement to be limited to just that, to continue the talks.

The whaling moratorium will stay

Pro-sustainable whaling nations will argue that it is high time that the IWC formally lifted the temporary 1986-90 whaling moratorium as there is sufficient scientific evidence to show that several whale stocks can be hunted sustainably. The anti-whaling nations simply don't want to lift the moratorium, and as they have enough votes to block any lifting, the ban will stay in place.

Hate resolutions

It is likely that the anti-whaling faction will pass some hate resolutions condemning the whaling nations, in particular Iceland and Japan for conducting scientific whaling programmes. Some may also express displeasure with Norway for not only continuing, but also expanding their commercial whaling operations. Resolutions are adopted by a simple majority and are non-binding. They are smoke without fire, merely expressions of opinions.

Sanctuary posturing

Without any chance of attaining the required 75% support to be adopted, Australia and New Zealand will once again propose a South Pacific whale sanctuary, and Brazil and Argentina will propose a South Atlantic sanctuary. It appears that these governments continue with their posturing to “save” super-abundant whales in order to attain a green image. Whether their domestic constituencies still wish to be fooled, remains to be seen.

Whale watching and whaling

Are whale watching and whaling mutually exclusive economic activities, or can they co-exist? A number of anti-whaling groups claim that they are mutually exclusive, and that whale watching is so economically lucrative that it should be the choice for the future. The High North Alliance disagrees. We believe that both activities can coexist for one or more reasons, either because whales are abundant, different species are targeted, or because the two activities take place in geographically separated areas. Norwegian experience, with both commercial whale watching and whaling, demonstrates this point. We believe that the alleged profitability of whale watching is many times inflated and seems to be inspired by Enron-style accounting practices. For instance, the annual accounts of the leading Icelandic whale watching companies demonstrate an accumulated loss of more than one million Euro for the years 1999-2002 (source: Icelandic Enterprise Register).

Whale hunting methods

A coalition of animal rights and welfare organisations launched a campaign this spring to put animal welfare issues associated with whaling higher up on the IWC agenda. They published the report “Troubled waters – A review of the welfare implications of modern whaling activities,” claiming that it is not possible to kill a whale humanely and calling for an end to all the world’s whaling activities.

The High North Alliance welcomes focus on whale hunting methods and believes that the current methods employed in whaling are in most cases a most efficient and humane way to produce food. 80% of the minke whales hunted in Norway, for instance, are dispatched instantaneously.