| 2001 |
The IWC held a special intersessional meeting to develop the Revised
Management Scheme, a plan to establish a set of rules that would be
used if the IWC agreed to allow countries to hunt whales commercially.
|
| 2000 |
Japan and its Caribbean supporters blocked the creation of a South
Pacific Whale Sanctuary, proposed by Australia and New Zealand. Japan
extended its hunt in the North Pacific to include two new species:
Sperm and Bryde's whales. The IWC passed a resolution condemning Japan's
hunt. DNA testing of whale meat on the Japanese market discovered
meat from a west Pacific Gray whale, one of the most endangered whale
populations in the world. |
| 1999 |
During the IWC meeting in Grenada, virtually every proposal by Japan
and Norway to ease restrictions on commercial whaling is defeated.
Japan's voting bloc in the Caribbean, however, became more apparent:
six Caribbean nations voted with Japan and Norway on each proposal,
revealing the loyalty Japan had purchased through fisheries aid to
many of these islands. |
| 1998 |
The Norwegians allocated themselves a quota of 671 Minke whales,
more than double the number they gave themselves in 1993. An investigation
into illegal whale meat on the Japanese market used DNA testing to
reveal both Sei and Humpback meat on sale. |
| 1997 |
During the 1996-97 Antarctic whaling season, the Japanese fleet
extended its activities by hunting in both Antarctic Area V (the western
South Pacific) and for the first time since the moratorium came into
force, in Antarctic Area VI (the eastern South Pacific). Japan proposed
the introduction of secret ballots at the IWC in order to aid their
vote consolidation strategy. |
| 1996 |
Japanese authorities seized 6.1 tons of illegal whale meat, which
Norwegian traders tried to smuggle through as frozen mackerel. Antigua
and Barbuda, formerly pro-conservation nations, began lobbying actively
for Japanese coastal whaling. |
| 1995 |
The IWC Scientific Committee detected a bug in the Norwegian computer
program used to estimate the Northeast Atlantic Minke whale stock.
Japan increased its self-allocated quota during the 1995-96 Antarctic
whaling season. |
| 1994 |
The IWC established the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Russian
Ministry of Fisheries files revealed vast numbers of whales killed
by the Soviet whaling fleets in a programme of organised cheating
on their quotas. Some Russian factory ships were even able to cheat
with observers on board. This helps explain why surveys found such
a low number of Blue whales in the Southern ocean. A Norwegian whaling
vessel was observed taking a whale in excess of its quota. The skipper
was convicted two years later, the first conviction for a whaling
offence in the history of the hunt. |
| 1993 |
Grenada joined the IWC and sided with Japan. Norway resumed its
commercial hunt. Three and a half tons of frozen whale meat disguised
as prawns, were found on a cargo plane, being smuggled to Japan. |
| 1992 |
Iceland quit the IWC. Japan's vote buying continued with the entry
of Dominica to the IWC. Norway established the North Atlantic Marine
Mammals Commission for the regional management of seals and whales
in order to undermine the authority of the IWC. |
| 1989 |
Iceland announced a suspension of its 'scientific' whaling programme
after Greenpeace launched a campaign to boycott Icelandic fish products. |
| 1988 |
Japan began "scientific" whaling in the Antarctic. |
| 1987 |
The USSR and Japan stopped whaling under objection in the Antarctic. |
| 1986 |
The moratorium came into effect, but Japan, Norway and Russia lodged
objections and continued whaling. Iceland and Korea also continued
whaling, using the 'scientific' loophole. The Caribbean islands of
St. Lucia and St. Vincent abruptly shifted their positions from pro-conservation
to pro-whaling in support of Japan. This shift coincided with large
aid packages from Japan. |
| 1985 |
Greenpeace delivered a petition of one million signatures to the
IWC demanding that the moratorium on whaling come into effect. |
| 1982 |
July 24, Brighton: The IWC made history when it decided to issue
an indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling, which would take effect
in 1986. |
| 1979 |
The IWC implemented a factory ship ban, prohibiting the ships from
taking all species except Minke whales. The IWC established the Indian
Ocean Sanctuary. |
| 1978 |
Australia closed its last coastal whaling station and took the stand
that whaling is indefensible. Whaling conducted by non-IWC nations
and pirate whaling reached epidemic proportions. |
| 1976 |
The IWC instituted the New Management Procedure, setting quotas
for smaller areas than was done previously and protecting some species
in some areas. Proper implementation was not possible, however, due
to lack of adequate data. The system turned out to be a failure, as
the data coming from the whaling operations and the whalers did not
supply the data if it would reduce their quotas. |
| 1973 |
Japan and Russia violated quotas by 3,000 whales each. The Convention
in the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was set up
to monitor and regulate trade in endangered species. |
| 1972 |
The IWC rejected a UN proposal for a 10-year moratorium on commercial
whaling. Instead, it set regional quotas on separate species and abolished
the BWU. |
| 1968 |
Mr. I Fujita, the Japanese Commissioner since 1957, became Chairman
of the IWC until 1971. He was also director of the Japan Whaling Association,
the industry cartel. |
| 1967 |
Under the aegis of the IWC, 67,000 whales were killed, more than
twice the number killed in 1933 when there were no restrictions. |
| 1966 |
The IWC Scientific Committee recommended a ban on the taking of
Fin whales in the Antarctic. |
| 1965 |
The IWC banned the taking of Blue whales in the Antarctic. |
| 1963 |
During the 1963-64 season, the Soviet fleet killed 530 Blue whales.
Their report to the IWC claimed that the Soviet fleets had only taken
74 Blue whales. |
| 1962 |
Norway and the Netherlands rejoined the IWC. IWC scientists recommended
abandoning the BWU, but the IWC failed to abolish it until another
decade had passed. |
| 1961 |
The Soviet whaling expedition killed 1,200 Southern Right whales
off the coast of Argentina, despite a prohibition on catching this
species. |
| 1959 |
Norway and the Netherlands withdrew from the IWC, citing the Soviet
Union's demand for a larger share of the Antarctic quota as their
reason for leaving. |
| 1958 |
The IWC allocated a quota of 15,000 BWUs for the 1958-59 season
despite the Scientific Committee's recommendation for a quota of 10,000
BWUs to facilitate stock recovery. |
| 1954 |
The IWC Scientific Committee recommended a ban on taking Blue whales,
but the IWC opted only for a ban in the North Pacific. The three nations
affected by the decision, Japan, the Soviet Union and the US, all
entered formal objections and thus were not bound by the Commission's
decision. |
| 1949 |
The first meeting of the IWC in London established a scientific
sub-committee to guide its decisions but decided to lift the ban on
the killing of Humpbacks in Antarctica. |
1946 |
The International Convention for Regulation of Whaling was signed
by 14 countries and established the International Whaling Commission
(IWC), which, from 1949, met annually. The explicit purpose of the
convention is 'to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks'
and 'thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry'.
The basic management tool for setting quotas was the Blue Whale Unit
(BWU) based on the oil yield from a Blue whale. |
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