Source: The High North publication, "The International Harpoon," July 3, 2000, published during the 52nd Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission held in Australia

“Those countries calling for a complete ban on whaling are in practice doing nothing to stop the increase of numbers of whales being killed, and the couple of countries whaling today continue to flout IWC majority opinion,” states the World Wide Fund for Nature in a May 25 press release. “Governments must negotiate a package of solutions or they will be guilty of opting for a quiet life and leaving an uncertain future for the great whales.”

This critique is clearly directed at Australia and a handful of other nations that have adopted an absolutist position on whaling. At the close of last year’s IWC meeting, the WWF director for international issues, Gordon Shepherd, told the press (AFP) that “much of the debate at the IWC meeting sounds like empty talk.” The background for this statement was WWF figures showing a substantial increase in whale numbers since the 1986 moratorium.

Richard Mott of the WWF told AFP that he found it “ironic” that those groups that had been most successful in turning opinion against whaling were now blocking “the compromise the IWC needs”. “They have a very narrow view of what is in the whales’ best interest,” he said.

…. And so does the World Conservation Union

“The most responsible and scientifically defensible first step the IWC can take towards reasserting its role and consolidate its authority would be to complete, adopt and implement the Revised Management Scheme (RMS”), wrote IUCN – The World Conservation Union – in its opening statement to last years IWC meeting. 

The IUCN fears the negative effect the indefinite postponement of the completion of the RMS is having on the IWC’s reputation. The most important elements have been in place for seven years. According to the IUCN, “The remaining obstacles could be overcome with a modicum of goodwill on both sides ... although catches of whales are continuing to increase, the IWC has shown little sign of an intention to resume its responsibility for the management of whaling.” 

With reference to NAMMCO, the IUCN warns that new organisations have already been established and are ready play the role of the IWC as a result of its “neglect of statuary duties.” “Once other bodies begin to take decisions affecting whales independently of the IWC, it will become more and more difficult for the IWC to regain its status as the primary body for the management and conservation of whales.”

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