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IWC 54 - the world is watching Shimonoseki
24 May 2002
 This year's battle for the whales comes to an end in Shimonoseki
There were no speeding inflatable boats, no water hoses, but the democratic process took a pummeling this week at the IWC as Japan used its bought voting bloc to stop sanctuaries and deny indigenous people subsistence quotas.
 Japan now has the United States over a barrel as the US is obliged by its treaty obligations with the Inuit to grant them their whaling quota. more>
John Frizell gives a final
update describing what has happened in the meeting over
the last day including the votes on the Revised Management Schemes
(RMSs) and what this means for the future of the commercial whaling
ban.
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Quote of the Day
These few days have been a very rewarding experience.
- Delegate from Palau
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Whaling has no place in the 21st century
 It
is the final day of the annual international Whaling Commission
meeting and the commercial ban is safe for another year as two proposals
for revised whaling management plans fail. More>
Feature: Ex-whaler speaks out for conservation
 John Burton joined a UK whaling ship in 1949 when he was just 16. Today he speaks out against whaling and is worried that a return to commercial whaling will be the final blow to whale populations.
Listen to his story about his days as a whaler and his concerns for the future of whales.
Diaries from the IWC
 Yuko
is a whale campaigner from Greenpeace Japan with experience in the
whaling grounds and the whaler's home town: "The fact
that the IWC is being held in Shimonoseki is extremely significant,
because the target of the whaling campaign is the Japan Fisheries
Agency and we are on their home ground." More>
 John
is the fearless coordinator of our crazy bunch, but he seems to
have enjoyed it: "We had fun. Working together for a common
objective, fighting for a computer to check out our email, to update
our office, to send a message home." More>
Take action: help put pressure on countries bought by Japan
Four new members recruited and bought by the Japanese Fisheries Agency with overseas aid in exchange for supporting Japan's pro-whaling position will join at this meeting.
You can help put pressure on these countries to stand up for whale conservation, not commercial whaling by sending a letter to the Foreign Ministers.
Mongolia is a land locked country and the latest to join the IWC. It is hard to image what there interest is in whaling except as a route to Japanese aid. Send a letter to their foreign minister.
Send a fax to the minister of Palau, a small island in the South Pacific, and the latest country to become a full member of the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
You can click here to send a fax to the minister of Benin in Africa.
And click here to send a fax to Gabon.
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