The World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) expressed "deep disappointment" over
the International Whaling Commission's (IWC)
failure to pass resolutions that would have
created two new sanctuaries for whales, the
WWF reported.
According
to the WWF, at the 53rd meeting of the IWC in
London, blocking tactics from Japan, Norway and
a host of other countries prevented the resolutions
from passing. The IWC also failed to adopt safeguards
that would have retained a 1986 whaling moratorium.
Because of the strong influence of the Japanese,
it appears that pro-whaling interests will dominate
future meetings.
There are two existing whale sanctuaries, one
in the Indian Ocean and the other in the Southern
Ocean. The anti-whaling lobby wants to see two
more created.
It was reported by Reuters that Japan and Norway
claim that there is no need for additional whale
sanctuaries because whale populations are already
protected by a blanket ban on commercial whaling
that was imposed in 1985 by the IWC.
"Whale conservation victories made in previous
years continue to be eroded," Ginette Hemley,
WWF vice president of species conservation was
quoted as saying. "We look to the IWC to
exercise control over whaling. We're very disappointed
that the power of the IWC to do that seems to
be slipping away, and with it a safe future for
the world's whales."
According to the WWF, the number of pro-whaling
votes have increased by 50 percent over the past
two years. The WWF called for anti-commercial
whaling countries to develop a consensus to strengthen
whale conservation and bring whaling under international
control.
According to
the WWF, the recent IWC decisions could have
serious impacts for the biannual meeting
of the Convention on the International Trade
in Endangered Flora and Fauna (CITES) that is
scheduled for sometime after the May 2002 IWC
meeting in Shimoneseki, Japan. The WWF warned
that if the IWC can't gain some control over
whaling, then CITES would have to reopen international
trade in whale meat without management in place.
That, the WWF reported, could open the "floodgates" and
set the resumption of whaling back on a scale
not seen in recent years.
"The anti-whaling countries must get their
act together and realize that, unless they develop
proposals to get commercial whaling under control,
and ensure they are accepted by the IWC, they
will share the blame for the resumption of unsustainable
large-scale whaling," Cassandra Phillips,
WWF's Senior Policy Advisor of Whales and Antarctica
was quoted as saying. "They need to take
a serious look at what will be in the best interest
of whale conservation, otherwise the future of
the world's whales will be back in the hands
of the whalers."
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