IWC, Whaling

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the only regulatory body with the authority to manage the world's whale stocks. It is currently composed of over fifty member nations... and meets once a year in a different country hosted by a member nation. The IWC's purpose is to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry."

ACS sends a representative to the IWC to observe first-hand the international regulatory and management process and provide information back to ACS's members. Member nations send official delegations to the IWC, the primary delegate called that country's "Commissioner." Most Countries send 3-5 delegates. Japan sends 50-60.  More  

See the 2005 IWC Report. Also see the 2004 IWC Report. Some IWC 2004 news is in the July conservation report. The reports from the IWC meeting in Berlin in 2003, are in the fall/winter 2003 issue of Whalewatcher. See 'Excerpts of Past Whalewatcher Issues' for IWC reports on this site, the members-only Whalewatcher article archives, and the conservation summaries.

WHY does ACS attend the IWC?
    - because They're Not Saved Yet! ...

Contrary to what some may say, there has not been a "sharp rebound" in whale stocks. There is no agreement within the IWC regarding the number of whales in the world's oceans, particularly the Southern Ocean minke whale stocks, Japan's prime target. It is scientifically unsound to base any kind of hunt on essentially unknown population numbers.

The gray whale population that people flock to see off Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, and Mexico took nearly 100 years to significantly recover from being almost decimated during the height of whaling off the North American west coast. Even now, researchers are concerned that their primary food sources in the Bering Sea are diminishing due to climate change and industrial pollution.

Around the world, whale watching has become an annual billion-dollar industry. Many developing communities are profiting from tourists who are willing to pay substantial amounts for the awe-inspiring sight of whales in their natural, wild habitat. A majority of whale watchers have categorically stated they will not visit a country that allows commercial whaling, a statement that will put Iceland to the test as it reinstates commercial whaling and that will continue to challenge those Caribbean resort destinations that are pro-whaling: St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts, St. Nevis, St. Lucia, and Dominica.

The argument that whales eat so much marine life that humans are suffering is simplistic and erroneous. Japan has increasingly used this argument to justify a return to commercial whaling, yet leading scientists around the world have categorically stated that it is without merit. In May 2002, 21 prominent scientists, including 3 Nobel Prize winners, challenged the scientific credibility of Japan's whaling program. Human consumption of fish is depleting the world's fisheries, not whales. There are still far fewer whales now than prior to the heyday of commercial whaling, when fish were abundant worldwide.

Even in Japan, the market for expensive whale meat has dropped dramatically, despite the Japanese government's publicity efforts to encourage people to eat whale meat. Not only is some whale meat highly contaminated with various toxins, making it unfit for human consumption, there is really no use for it other than pet food.

The ocean is still full of scientific mysteries, and is a difficult place to monitor. Much is unknown about whales and their habitat, yet they have become a symbol of all life in the oceans. It is not cultural imperialism to oppose commercial whaling. It is for the protection of an indicator species of marine health and viability.