A Major Win for the Whales
Published by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Japan lost so the moratorium stands.
Despite bribing nations and insidious tactics, the proposal by japan to overturn the 31 year moratorium on commercial whaling has failed by a vote of 41 to 27 with 2 abstentions.
The Proposal with the misleading title: The Way Forward was in fact an attempt to go backwards to pre-1987 when commercial slaughter of whales was legal
Following yesterday’s most welcome Florianopolis Declaration, this defeat of the Japanese Proposal has made the 67th meeting of the International Whaling Commission an awesome historical event for the world’s whales.
The Florianopolis Declaration states that the purpose of the IWC is the conservation of whales and that the commercial killing of whales is to no longer be up for further discussion.
Japan is now threatening to leave the IWC, however they have been threatening to leave almost every year they have not gotten what they want.
Here is the breakdown:
First the Bad Guys voting for the Japanese Proposal.
Whaling Nations
Japan
Norway
Iceland
Non-Whaling Nations with no vested interest in whaling but beholden to Japan.
Antigua
Benin
Cambodia
Ivory Coast
Grenada
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Kiribati
Laos
Liberia
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mongolia
Morocco
Nauru
Nicaragua
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent
Sao Tome
Solomon Islands
Suriname
Tanzania
Tuvalu
Against the Proposal
Whaling Nations
Denmark
United States
Non-Whaling Nations
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Finland
France
Gabon
Germany
India
Ireland
Israel
Italy
LitHuania
Luxembourg
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Panama
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
UK
Uruguay
Abstentions
Korea
Russia
The IWC meets again in 2020. Joji Morashita is no longer the chair of the IWC.
International Whaling Commission (IWC) Update: Japan’s return of Commercial Whaling ‘The Way Forward’ proposal was just voted and denied by the commission.
Another win for the Whales especially considering that yesterday the ‘Florianopolis Declaration’ was approved and it consists of changing the IWC’s purpose towards conservation of whales and not for stock management purposes any longer. Seeing that whaling does not belong in the XXI century.
Previously, Japan, Norway, Iceland and Faroe Islands (Denmark) have shown no respect for any rules or regulations from this or any other regulating body.
During Japan’s speech after the defeat of their proposal threatened to leave the IWC.
Indeed a victory to see the resolutions going forward, but the question remains, will it be respected by these whaling nations?
Despite the Florianopolis decision and despite the defeat of the Japanese Proposal, Japan continues to kill whales in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific AND Iceland, Norway and Denmark continue to kill whales and in the case of Iceland, endangered Fin and Blue whales, in the North Atlantic.
Overall the 67th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission has been a success for the whales.
Thanks to all the nations that supported the whales and a very special thank-you to Brazil for the Florianopolis Declaration. Thank you to our anti-poaching partners Costa Rica and Ecuador and especially to Gabon for their strong defense of the whales at this historic meeting.
Photo Credit: Naian Meneghetti Photopress Brasil
Read the full article at: https://seashepherd.org/2018/09/14/a-win-for-the-whales/
