THE annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission has once again
ended without agreement over whether commercial whaling should resume.
An Irish proposal presented to this year鈥檚 IWC meeting, held in Monaco, was
seen as the best hope of bridging the divide between the main whaling nations,
Norway and Japan, and the antiwhaling majority
(This Week, 25 October, p 12). It
would have allowed tightly regulated whaling in coastal waters, provided the
meat was not traded internationally. Any other hunts, including Japan鈥檚 annual
鈥渟cientific鈥� expeditions, would have been banned.
The 39 IWC members could not agree on the proposal, but it is not entirely
dead. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not dismissive of the idea,鈥� says Will Martin, acting US
commissioner. But antiwhaling countries point to several problems, including the
difficulty of preventing illicit international trade in whalemeat. 鈥淚t could
open all sorts of new loopholes,鈥� says Ivor Llewelyn, Britain鈥� commissioner.
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Michael Canny, Ireland鈥檚 commissioner, now intends to meet each of the key
players in a bid to mobilise opinion behind a modified proposal before next
year鈥檚 IWC meeting in Oman.
There remains the danger that Norway and Japan will leave the IWC if
commercial whaling is not approved in any form. But the fact that next year鈥檚
meeting will be held earlier, in May, means that they are happy to remain on
board for the time being. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 another six months?鈥� asks K氓re Bryn, the
Norwegian commissioner.