Contributed by, Nicola Gothard

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) will be meeting on 21st June to discuss a possible lifting of the commercial whaling ban. The IWC regulates the whaling industry and is responsible for the ban on commercial whaling which came in to force in 1986.  However the commission is largely focused on regulating the whaling industry so that it can be sustainable and the ban had little to do with animal welfare. Whale stocks were hunted to near extinction and a ban was necessary.  However three countries; Japan, Norway and Iceland have continued to hunt whales. Iceland and Norway have objected to the ban and set their own hunting quotas – ignoring international law. Japan operates it’s whaling industry under the guise of ’scientific’; research – the ban allows for limited whaling in the interest of scientific research. Australia have recently filed a suit claiming that Japanese whaling has nothing to do with science and is more commercially motivated.

At the upcoming meeting members will vote on a deal which will see the end to the ban and legitimize commercial whaling. The proposal would allow the three countries that have defied the ban to hunt legally provided they kill less whales than they have been doing illegally. This is a ridiculous proposal, it’s like telling a criminal that their activities are no longer illegal but as a trade-off they can no longer commit the crime so often. Firstly they probably won’t listen because they have already shown they have no respect for the law. Secondly, the international community should not bow to bully nations throwing their weight around. Thirdly, it completely disregards the fact that whaling is inherently inhumane and as such should not be inflicted on any number of whales.

How to Help

I have scouted around the net for various ways you can show governments and the IWC that you do not want to lift the ban on commercial whaling:

1. Everybody can sign this petition to the Norwegian Government  here

2. Everybody can join WSPA Australia’s campaign to give the whales a voice. They are asking everyone to record messages to the International Whaling Commission which they will take to the meeting on June 21st here

3.  In America you can write a letter to your senator asking them to support the International Whale Conservation Protection Act here. The USA is as ever a key decision maker and it id vital that they vote against lifting the ban.

4.  Email the International Whaling Commission to tell them what you think at secretariat@iwcoffice.org

5. In this international community it is important that we all show our national representatives how we feel.  You can find the name of the representative of your country in the IWC  here.  Please contact them and tell them how you would like your country to vote.

Tags: animal welfare, IWC, Legislation, whaling

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 5th, 2010 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Animal Welfare in Action, Animals & Politics, Animals in the News, Wild Animals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.