April 2000: As the Japanese whaling fleet today offloaded its cargo of 440 minke whales hunted illegally in the protected Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, Greenpeace called on Japan and Norway to withdraw their proposals to resume international trade in whales.
Japan and Norway are aggressively lobbying other countries to support their proposals to overturn the international ban on trade in whale products at next week's meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in Nairobi, Kenya (1).
"Japan and Norway are trying to use CITES to undermine the International Whaling Commission's ban on commercial whaling. Decimation of whale populations during the last century shows that nothing short of a ban on commercial exploitation, backed by a ban on international trade, gives whales the protection they need. If the current trade ban is lifted, whaling will spiral out of control once again. It will be a disaster for whales," said Greenpeace spokesperson, Richard Page.
Despite the fact that the CITES Secretariat has recommended that Japan and Norway's proposals be rejected, both whaling nations are still pressing CITES to allow the international trade in minke whales from the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, and gray whales found off the west coast of north America. Japan and Norway currently hunt minke whales in the southern ocean and north Atlantic and North Pacific, despite the International ban.
Today, the 7500 tonne Japanese factory whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru, is unloading whale products, processed from minke whales killed in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary since December 1999. They will be sold on the Japanese market at an estimated wholesale value of US$ 35 million and will retail for about US$ 100 million (2). Norway's whaling is uneconomical and its whaling industry relies on government subsidies to keep it alive. Norway is, therefore, working particularly hard to overturn the CITES trade ban and resume trade with Japan.
This week, the Norwegian media reported that Norway has struck a deal with several African countries to support the elephant ivory trade in return for their support for Norway's proposal (3). The Norwegian government has also appointed a whaling ambassador to make foreign trips and lobby for downlisting. His itinery is being kept secret but he is believed to have visited over 50 countries in the last six months.
"If Japan and Norway succeed at CITES, the resumption of a legal trade in whale products would also open the door to illegal whaling. Pirate whalers will put both abundant and endangered species of whales at risk. Japan and Norway should immediately withdraw their proposals, stop wasting the time of the CITES meeting and undermining international efforts to protect whales," added Page.
Notes for editors:
(1) CITES takes place in Nairobi on 10-20 April 2000. Three proposals concern the 'downlisting' of the minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata from Appendix I to Appendix II of the CITES list. Two have been submitted by Japan for the Okhotsk Sea-West Pacific and Southern Hemisphere stocks and one has been submitted by Norway for the Northeast and North Atlantic Central stocks. Japan is also proposing that the Eastern Pacific stock of gray whales, Eschrichtius robustus is 'downlisted' from Appendix 1 to Appendix II, which allows trade in listed species.
The minke is the smallest of the great whales. Even so, a minke can be larger than two fully-grown elephants.
(2) Whilst Norway ignores the IWC's ban on commercial whaling, Japan conducts whaling under the guise of 'scientific research' despite the fact that the IWC has repeatedly asked Japan to stop this program and its scientists have concluded that the program is 'not required for management'. By hunting whales, Japan is in violation of articles 65 and 120 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas. Japanese whaling is conducted by a private institute, the Institute for Cetacean Research,. This body was created with the help of a grant from the whaling industry and conducts public relations, promotes whale meat sales as well as conducting whaling. All income from the sale of the whale meat produced by Japan's 'scientific' whaling goes to the institute.
(3) Dagbladet, 04.04.2000- Greenpeace took non-violent direct action to protect whales in Southern Ocean whale sanctuary from the Japanese whaling fleet 11 times in December 1999 and January 2000.
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Contact:
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