Can Japan Convince International Community to Support “Sustainable” Whaling?
The International Whaling Commission’s 78 members are meeting in London next month in an effort to reach agreement on whale conservation rules. Meanwhile, global whale hunting continues to increase. The March 6–8 gathering, titled “The Future of the IWC,” will prepare IWC member states for their annual meeting in Chile this June. Delegates at the June conference will likely face considerable pressure to produce an agreement on the future of whaling, particularly in light of rising catches by Japan and other countries. “There has been an expansion of scientific whaling and whaling by objection, by number and species, and that’s worrisome,” said Doug DeMaster, a marine mammal biologist and the acting commissioner for the March meeting’s U.S. delegation. “The IWC isn’t managing commercial whaling. It isn’t doing a good job of that now.” The international community agreed in 1982 on a global moratorium on commercial whaling, but previous accords allow whaling if conducted “for the purpose
