RESOLUTION
(requires simple majority) |
/ |
SCHEDULE AMENDMENT
(requires 3/4 majority) |
|
Yes |
No |
Abstain |
Absent
(all pro-whaling) |
To use secret ballots at the IWC.
(Change to Rules of Procedure; requires a simple majority) |
24 |
29 |
|
|
To abolish the Southern Ocean Sanctuary.
(Schedule Amendment) |
19 |
30 |
2 |
2 |
To create the South Pacific Whale Sanctuary.
(Schedule Amendment) |
26 |
21 |
4 |
2 |
To create the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary.
(Schedule Amendment) |
26 |
22 |
4 |
2 |
To reconvene the Whale Killing Methods working group in order to advise the Commission on: establishing better criteria for determining the onset of irreversible insensibility and death; methods of improving the efficiency of killing methods; and reducing times of death and other welfare issues.
(Resolution 2004-3) |
29 |
22 |
|
3 |
To re-categorize two "small countries" (Monaco and San Marino) to more accurately reflect their average per capita, income-based contributions to IWC.
(Resolution 2004-4) |
20 |
15 |
17 |
2 |
To establish high-level contact with the Secretariat of the Global Environment Facility to explore possible synergies between GEF and IWC for securing funding for IWC-related projects.
(Resolution 2004-5) |
30 |
8 |
14 |
2 |
To allow Japan to take 150 Bryde's whales from the western north Pacific as "coastal whaling" (another attempt at commercial whaling).
(Schedule Amendment) |
22 |
29 |
2 |
1 |
To allow Japan to take 150 minke whales from the Okhotsk Sea-West Pacific stock as "coastal whaling" (i.e., yet another commercial whaling attempt).
(Schedule Amendment) |
24 |
28 |
1 |
1 |
To affirm the Commission's commitment "to alleviate the continued difficulties caused by the cessation of minke whaling" in four Japanese communities ("community-based whaling") and "encourage IWC members to cooperate towards a resolution of this matter." (Third time's the charm for getting endorsement of de facto commercial whaling, this time with direct US help.)
(Resolution 2004-2) |
Adopted by consensus
with US amendment |
To amend Paragraph 13 by deleting the words "...whose traditional aboriginal subsistence and cultural needs have been recognized" to "be fair" to the Russian Inuit (the wording deliberately added in 1997 at IWC-49 to block the US from securing a quota of gray whales for the Makah, who have no such need).
(Schedule Amendment) |
Adopted by consensus
with US as a co-sponsor |
To request that the Secretariat urgently offer its services and scientific expertise to all organizations concerned with oil and gas development projects in the Sakhalin area and affecting the critically endangered north western Pacific gray whale.
(Resolution 2004-1) |
Adopted by consensus
with 2 reservations
(Japan and Norway) |
To re-establish the Working Group on the RMS that will meet in the week preceding IWC-57 (open to observers), to discuss the Small Drafting Group's Draft RMS with the goal of having a finalized RMS ready for consideration, including for possible adoption, at IWC-57.
(Resolution 2004-6) |
Adopted by consensus
after two show-of-hand votes
on amendments to
change wording. |
To explore the possibility of IWC meetings being held less frequently (i.e., biennially) and to establish a working group to investigate and make recommendations.
(Resolution 2004-7) |
Adopted by consensus
with 3 reservations
(Japan, Iceland, Chile) |
If you noticed that the first items on the list total 53 votes but the rest total 54 votes, your arithmetic is correct and so is the above table. The discrepancy between 53 and 54 lies in the addition of Senegal on the next to last day. Until then, Senegal could not be considered "absent" because it wasn't technically "there" until its vote status was restored. The same held true for three other member countries present but who couldn't vote for various eligibility reasons (e.g., delayed paperwork, dues in arrears, etc.): Costa Rica, Morocco and Cote d'Ivoire. They could participate but they couldn't vote, so they don't count in the above tally. The total Parties to the Convention at IWC-56 equaled 57 member countries.
This is what makes the voting so interesting and the outcome of issues at meetings where the pro- and anti-whaling factions are so close in count as they were this year. From one day to the next, you don't know who's going to get their dues paid up or what new member country is going to get its paperwork sorted in time to join at the last minute.
