Posted by Willie — 12 July 2011 at 10:37am
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In a warehouse-like hall, with demoralisingly black walls, in a hotel on the Channel Island of Jersey, several hundred people have gathered this week for the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission.
Posted by jossc — 24 June 2009 at 2:02pm
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Sara Holden, our International whales campaign coordinator, blogs from the 61st International Whaling Conference in Madeira, Portugal. Even though for the first time in years the anti-whaling nations have a decent majority on the IWC, genuine protection for whales still remains low on the agenda.
As metaphors go, how about this? The IWC meeting is being held in a
casino - and anyone betting on a good outcome for the whales would be
unlikely to win. Equally aprt, just a few minutes before the opening of the 61st International Whaling Commission meeting, a large rat was seen scuttling through the hotel and out the door. Not a bad illustration of what's going on here.
Posted by Willie — 12 June 2008 at 2:06pm
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In Chile, the world's scientists are already meeting in advance of the 60th International Whaling Commission (IWC), which will be held there in late June. At this time of year, the eyes of the world turn to the deadlocked struggle between pro-conservation and pro-whaling countries as they clash over the future of whaling at the IWC meetings. And recent events have not been going well for the whalers - in recent weeks we have seen just how desperate the pro-whaling nations are to play down not only the recent scandal of stolen whale meat in Japan, but also the saga of exporting whale meat from Iceland and Norway. Both stories highlight the extent to which the whalers are routinely flouting not only international opinion but also the global ban on commercial whaling and the trading of whale meat.
Posted by jossc — 1 June 2007 at 4:22pm
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Cetacean bycatch victims displayed in Berlin, Germany, last month
Well the last vote has finally been cast at this year's International Whaling Commission (IWC), all the results are in - and there's good news! Last year's St Kitts Declaration, an attempt by pro-whaling nations led by the Japanese government to restart commercial whaling, was decisively rejected. Anti-whaling countries have bounced back with a 37-4 vote for the CITES Resolution, which strengthens the commercial whaling ban.
Tunny - giant blue fin tuna - caught off the Dogger Bank in 1953, when an estimated 3-4,000 were caught each year. Since then they have disappeared from the North Sea.
Posted by jossc — 10 March 2007 at 3:56pm
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MY Esperanza arrives in Sydney, Australia
We're taking our anti-whaling campaign to Japan, where the government plans to increase its whaling activities despite opposition from two-thirds of the Japanese public.
Most fishing gear is not selective. This means that as well as the 'target' species of fish it catches, any number of 'non-target' species may also be hauled in. This 'incidental' catch of other species is referred to as 'bycatch'.
Globally, it's estimated that a quarter of what is caught is wasted - thrown back into the sea dead because it has no commercial value. Fishing quotas mean that fishermen targeting a particular species or size of fish will throw back any 'non-target' or 'too small' fish that they catch.
The Court of Appeal today (Monday 31st October) ruled that it was legal for the government to make an order to limit pair trawling despite the fact that scientific evidence suggested the order would kill more dolphins than it would save.
This year the International Whaling Commission (IWC) is meeting in South Korea. South Korea has a history of whaling and its waters are an important habitat for the Korean Gray Whale, one of the most critically endangered whale populations in the world.
Greenpeace is concerned that as human activities continue to degrade the world's oceans, species and populations of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are under increasing threat.
