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30 October 2002
Don't move that blubber!
Japanese government's proposal
to re-open international whale trade must be denied
 Overexploit,
cheat, deplete. The cycle of greed behind the global whaling industry
drove one whale population after another toward oblivion. It wasn't
until 1986 that a moratorium on all commercial whaling slowed this
onslaught. Now, will a Japanese government proposal turn the clock
back?
Renegades
This year the Japanese whaling fleet caught 684 whales, 440 of
them from the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, a critical protected area
for whales. The Japanese Fisheries Agency expanded its whaling to
the North Pacific and is increasing quotas. Appallingly, they've
added endangered Sei whales to their harpoon sights, and took 39
this year.
The Japanese government is putting a lot of effort into its campaign
to resume large-scale commercial whaling and international trade
in whale products, even encouraging children to become whale eaters
by giving them price-slashed whale meat for lunch so they'll "understand
how good it is".
In "Whale Hunters," a new BBC documentary, Masayuki Komatsu
of Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries can be
heard advising a Japanese whaling ship captain how to deal with
Greenpeace protest boats: "When they approach, blow them out
of the water."
Leaky treaties
But wait! Isn't there a total whaling ban? So how can Japan still
be whaling?
The Japanese government uses a loophole in the international regulations
to carry out "scientific whaling." Their "scientific"
whale samples retail for around $US 100 million a year as a luxury
food.
The Japanese government's "science" aims to prove that
whales deplete the world's fish stocks. It's a self-serving research
agenda with as much scientific rigor as an over-cooked ramen noodle.
Over-fishing is to blame for collapsing fish stocks world-wide,
not whales.
Not content with its deplorable domestic scam, the Japanese government
is also trying to make international trade in whale products legal.
They argue that Minke and Brydes whales are abundant enough to exploit
commercially - despite the lack of accurate data on these whales'
populations.
History repeats itself
History shows that in the conflict between greed and conservation,
whales have always been the losers.
Individual whales have a high commercial value. But these animals
also reproduce extremely slowly. So there's a huge economic incentive
to catch whales, but no economic incentive to conserve because it
brings an individual whaler no short-term benefit. Whalers inevitably
submit to greed.
During the last half century, over-harvesting and fraud undermined
IWC (International Whaling Commission) attempts to manage one crashing
whale population after another. Quotas were exceeded by tens of
thousands whales, and endangered species were illegally caught.
In the Antarctic the Blue whale was hunted to near-extinction, then
the Fin whale, followed by the Humpback and Sei whales. Only the1986
IWC moratorium ended the whale management charade. Some whale species,
like the North Atlantic Right whale which was hunted to near extinction
in the 19th century, have never recovered. The Antarctic Blue whales,
the largest animals in the world, show little sign of recovery after
almost 40 years of protection.
CITES support for IWC ban
The IWC whaling ban gains crucial support through another international
treaty, CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species). Whales are listed under CITES Appendix I, which protects
them by banning international trade in whale products.
Down with downlisting!
The Japanese government has tried to overturn the trade ban at
three previous CITES meetings and they're trying it again, even
though previous efforts failed by wide margins. Next month when
CITES member nations meet in Santiago, Chile, they will vote on
two Japanese proposals to downlist Minke and Bryde's whales to Appendix
II, a move which would open up whale products for regulated trade
internationally.
The proposals in themselves are outrageous. The CITES Secretariat
has recommended member nations to oppose the proposals because they
are contrary to CITES own rules, and its long-standing agreement
to harmonise CITES regulation on whales with the IWC ban.
Total loss of control
The consequences of downlisting for whales would be disastrous.
Despite the current total bans on harvest and trade, whaling of
endangered whale species continues. Even the renegade whaling nations
can't control their dubious dealings. DNA tests on whale meat purchased
in Japan shows that, in addition to species the Japanese government
gives permits for, at least five other species are being harvested
and sold. Most disturbingly, meat from a Gray whale from the western
North Pacific - the world's most endangered population of great
whales, has been found on sale in Japan. Controls are so lax that
even horsemeat is passed off as whale!
With the cover provided by a legal trade and the economic incentive
of expanded markets, illegal, whaling and illegal trade would rapidly
escalate.
Noway's golden blubber bank
Norway will be the main beneficiary if Japan's proposals are agreed
in Santiago. Since they resumed commercial whaling in 1993, warehouses
have been piled high with whale blubber Norwegians won't eat. The
Norwegian whalers and whale traders look longingly to the Japanese
market where they could sell the stockpiled blubber and make a handsome
profit.
Recently Norway broke the CITES ban to export whale blubber to
Iceland, another country which wants to resume trade with Japan.
The export was done for purely political reasons, as a way to pressure
countries into agreeing the Japanese downlisting proposals.
However Norwegian whale blubber packs a poisonous punch. Tests
conducted this year show a thumb-sized piece of the blubber will
expose Icelandic diners to PCBs, DDT and even fire-retardants. Some
of the toxins may exceed by many times recommended.
Thanks, we've got enough problems
Of course, pollutants are bad for the whales too and may be affecting
the whales' ability to reproduce. Whales are also up against climate
change, ozone depletion and ultraviolet B radiation, noise pollution,
prey depletion, capture in fish nets, habitat degradation and even
ship strikes. Many of these factors' influence on beleaguered whale
populations are still poorly understood.
Take the year 1999, when alarmed scientists saw twice as many Gray
whale strandings along the Eastern Pacific seaboard as any previous
year. Many of the animals were emaciated. Scientists suspect that
climate change reduced the prey species these highly endangered
whales depend on, a factor which led to their strandings.
Take
Action!
Despite the alarming situation for the world's whale populations,
you can help put a stop to the international trade in whale products.
CITES member countries will meet in Santiago from November 3rd
to 17th to vote on the downlisting of whales and other issues. Greenpeace
believes these proposals shouldn't even be on that table. The CITES
Secretariat has also recommended that countries oppose the proposals
since they contradict CITES' own rules.
Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Germany and the US have championed
the conservation of whale populations since the whaling moratorium.
Fax
them and ask them to stand up now and take the lead in rejecting
the Japanese proposals to downlist Bryde's and Minke whales.
The Japanese Fisheries Agency shouldn't be wasting valuable conference
time, but you should take the time to call on these governments
to get Japan to withdraw their proposals.
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