Posted on 16-6-2003
Whales
Face New Bloodbath
by Mark Townsendm, The Observer, 15 June 2003
Hunted to the brink of extinction, their
relentless slaughter became the first great symbol of the overexploitation
of the earth's resources. Now, for the first time since commercial
whaling was banned almost two decades ago, the recovery of the
species is threatened by a return to the bloodbath of the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries.
Talks this week could map out the fate of
the world's largest mammal as the credibility of the international
agreement that controls whaling faces its sternest test.
A coalition of pro-whaling nations led by
Japan is set to hijack the talks at the International Whaling
Commission amid allegations that votes have been bought by bribery.
Japan and its growing block of supporters
- once a tiny minority - could win a clear majority for the
first time in the commission's 57-year history.
Delegates from about 40 countries will vote
tomorrow on whether to introduce the most important whaling
conservation measure for years. The so-called Berlin Initiative
would transform the commission into a body dedicated to safeguarding
the whale rather than regulating the whaling industry for which
it was originally created.
Yet already it is doomed. Japan looks likely
to muster 50 per cent of the vote needed to block the proposal.
For Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley, leading
the UK delegation, the initiative's defeat could prove a defining
point in the future welfare of the mammal. He is braced for
the worst. 'It looks decidedly tricky,' he told The Observer.
The fear is that having seized the moral
authority among commission states, the pro-whaling nations will
strive to secure 75 per cent of the votes. Such a majority would
enable them to overturn the ban on whaling, threatening many
species with extinction.
'At some point we are confident we will overturn
the moratorium. It is becoming a reality,' said Joji Morishita,
a Japanese delegate.
Such a reality would represent a profound
defeat for the world's conservation movement, which has lavished
vast sums on a propaganda battle to outlaw all whaling.
Despite such concerted campaigning, Japan
now counts at least half the 40-plus commission member states
as its supporters and that does not include new members such
as Nicaragua and Belize, which are reportedly pro-whaling.
Acrimony between the two camps has been heightened
by allegations that Japan, which claims eating whale is an important
part of its cultural heritage, is still offering multi-million-pound
fisheries aid grants to less wealthy states in return for pro-whaling
votes. Figures from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reveal
the country gave about £70 million in fisheries aid to eight
countries last year, which may have persuaded some to back Japan's
whaling stance.
Critics point to St Lucia and St Vincent
and the Grenadines, which supported conservation, but performed
a U-turn after senior politicians were entertained by the Japanese
government.
Since then, both countries have received
more than £13m in aid. It is feared the Japanese have now set
their sights on African and Latin American nations.
Such charges are denied by Tokyo. 'We give
aid to a lot of countries, including countries who vote against
us on whaling. The smaller nations rely on marine resources
for food and even if they received aid from Japan it wouldn't
alter their stance,' said a spokesman for Japan's commission
delegation.
The growing influence of Japan on whaling
matters has led Morley to call on opponents to join the commission
and thwart the pro-whaling block.
Vassili Papastavrou, whale scientist for
the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said: 'If the whalers
get hold of the convention, they will be able to use it for
their own ends.' Such despondency contrasts with the triumphalism
that greeted the commission agreement in 1982 to impose a moratorium
on commercial whaling.
Some species, such as the blue whale, last
hunted in the 1960s by the Russians, have still not recovered.
Other conservation measures likely to be defeated this week
include the introduction of huge whale sanctuaries in the Pacific
and South Atlantic.
Another hotly debated point will be Japanese
claims that whales are to blame for declining marine stocks
because they empty the seas of huge amounts of fish.
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