Japanese whalers claim to be collecting 'scientific samples'
Japan began its so-called 'scientific' whaling programme in 1987, using a loophole in the IWC convention which allows countries to kill whales for scientific purposes. Although it continues to claim that this is conducted for research purposes, in reality there is no difference between 'scientific' and commercial whaling.
Last year the Japanese whaling fleet returned to Japan after its 14th year of so-called 'scientific' whaling in the Antarctic. On board the Nisshin Maru factory vessel were approximately 2,000 tonnes of whale meat , worth about US$ 33 million dollars on the open market in Japan.
Japan is keen to resume commercial whaling despite continuous opposition from both within the IWC and outside. During the 1990s it embarked on a strategy to overturn the moratorium. This strategy is simply to buy votes in the IWC. To do this, Japan targets small developing countries and offers them substantial sums in development aid in exchange votes in the IWC.
So far Japan has gained the support of ten countries. Six are in the East Caribbean, plus Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Panama and Morocco. A quick look at the voting record shows that their votes exactly match those of Japan.
As a result, Japan now commands a blocking minority within the IWC. For any major proposal to be agreed , a 3D4 majority is needed and Japan now commands enough votes to block any further conservation measures from going forward.
The success of this vote buying strategy was demonstrated by the defeat of the proposal to create both a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary and a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary at last year's meeting.
Such sanctuaries would represent a massive blow to Japanese whaling interests because it would put two more major areas of the world's oceans permanently off-limits to whaling, ensuring that a large proportion of the whales which feed in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary would be protected throughout their life cycles.
Greenpeace fully supports both sanctuary proposals which have the support of all IWC members countries from the South Atlantic and South Pacific regions.
