COMMERCIAL WHALING HAS NO PLACE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

23 May 2002

SHIMONOSEKI, JAPAN - Today two alternative management plans for whaling were rejected by the IWC.

Even the Government of Japan’s vote buying was not enough to push through Japan’s version of the Revised Management Scheme (RMS) that included abolition of the moratorium on commercial whaling and abolition of the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuaries.

“This outrageous proposal would at a stroke have abolished all those hard won victories by conservation minded countries and environmental groups at the IWC. These victories were fought for on behalf of the world’s remaining whales,” says Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner Richard Page.

The alternative proposal sponsored by Sweden, the Netherlands, Ireland, Oman, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Finland also failed to gain the three quarters majority required under IWC rules to pass.

“Management plans have never worked in the past and we’ve got no reason to believe they would work now,” says Page.

“Given the uncertainty surrounding the whale populations and the myriad environmental hazards they face, like toxic pollution and climate change, Greenpeace believes only an outright ban on commercial whaling can give whales a chance to recover,” Page says.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

In Shimonoseki contact:
Contact GPI media officers Robert Maletta on +81 (0) 90 4171 0587 or Linda Apps on +81 (0) 90 8311 9178. Greenpeace office phone in Shimonoseki: 81 832 295 398.

For interviews in English:

Greenpeace Australia Pacific Oceans Campaigner
Pio Manoa +81 (0) 90 8053 9857

Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner Richard Page on +81 (0) 90 6197 5453

Greenpeace Japan Oceans Campaigner
Motoji Nagasawa on +81 (0) 90 4543 8590

Greenpeace New Zealand Oceans Campaigner
Sarah Duthie +81 (0) 90 9363 9935

In German:
Greenpeace Germany Oceans Campaigner
Thilo Maack +81 (0) 90 6185 9484

In Spanish/Portugese:
Greenpeace Argentina Whales Campaigner
Milko Schwarzman +81 (0) 90 8313 8309