FOCUS: Environmentalists slam compromise whaling plan+

LONDON, Feb. 5 Kyodo -
Environmental groups have criticized proposals which are designed to break the
international stalemate on the future of whaling.
Green groups claim that while the plans aim to reduce the number of whales
caught each year, they will allow Japan to break the 23-year-old ban on
commercial whaling.
Japan has in turn suggested that it will reject proposals to eventually halt
its so-called ''scientific'' whaling.
The plans come from a committee of the International Whaling Commission and
were published Monday. They will be presented to a full meeting of the
organization in Portugal in June.
Officials have tried to come up with an ''interim'' plan for five years which
is designed to act as a compromise between the seemingly irreconcilable
pro-whaling and antiwhaling factions. It is hoped that during this period
long-term agreement can be reached on the future functioning of the IWC and
whale conservation.
The paper, which was prepared by IWC Chairman Bill Hogarth, will let whalers
from four Japanese coastal communities hunt minke whales for a five-year
period, using quotas agreed by the IWC, which is based in Cambridge, England.
This has long been one of Japan's aims in order to boost the livelihoods of
people living in the four communities: Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, Abashiri
in Hokkaido, Ayukawa in Miyagi Prefecture and Wada in Chiba Prefecture.
In order to appease the antiwhaling faction, however, there would be a
''significant reduction'' in the number of minke and fin whales taken by Japan
under permits for scientific research.
Japan currently catches around 1,000 whales each year and claims that it is
entitled to do so under the convention on whaling. Critics claim the
''research'' is of little or no value and is merely a cover for commercial
whaling.
One option is to gradually phase out Japanese whaling in the Antarctic over the
next five years. Another option would be for the IWC's scientific committee to
set limits for Japan's annual catch in the Antarctic and northwest Pacific
oceans.
A final part of the deal is to create a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary for a
period of five years.
Environmentalists have generally given the thumbs down to the plans.
Patrick Ramage, whale program director with the International Fund for Animal
Welfare, described the proposals as a ''bad deal.''
He said, ''They would lift the commercial whaling moratorium, give new rights
to the government of Japan to kill protected whales, and permit illegal, high
seas whaling to continue.
''Rather than compromising hard-won conservation measures and finding ways for
whaling to expand, the IWC and its member governments should be negotiating the
terms under which Japan, Norway and Iceland will end their commercial whaling
activities.''
An authoritative source familiar with the negotiations told Kyodo News that he
was ''doubtful whether there's the basis for a deal which will benefit whale
conservation'' in June because the proposals could undermine the moratorium on
commercial whaling.
He said giving Japan a quota for coastal whaling could prompt other countries
to follow suit if the science shows that there is a whale surplus.
''It's also very hard to see that Japan would be willing to see its scientific
whaling phased out. It might agree to scale it back but then it has scaled up
its whaling over the last few years, and you end up therefore playing the
numbers game and it's doubtful whether you get anything worthwhile,'' he added.
Kate O'Connell, spokeswoman for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society in
Britain, said, ''The Hogarth plan makes the situation for whales worse, not
better. Not only does it give away the moratorium -- one of the greatest
conservation victories of all time -- but one of the minke whale stocks in
Japan's harpoon sights in the North Pacific is endangered.
''In addition, scientific whaling would be allowed to continue, even if
somewhat curtailed in the short term. And the proposal completely fails to take
into account the whaling activities of Norway and Iceland, who in 2009 could
well cause the deaths of more than 1,000 fin and minke whales and are fully
intent on full- scale international trade in whale meat.''
Despite comments from the environmental lobby, the special group which has
drawn up this plan is keen to point out that the moratorium on commercial
whaling will remain in place. It also wants to reassure IWC members that by
signing up to this deal they in no way compromise their official positions on
whaling, whether for or against.
Sarah Holden, Greenpeace International whales campaign coordinator, welcomed
the plans to phase out Japan's scientific whaling but stressed that they need
to be meaningful as there has been backtracking on previous commitments.
She said, ''While a promise to reduce the number of whales killed sounds
appealing in theory, the devil is in the detail and unfortunately much of the
detail is missing or misrepresented.''
Holden said she was opposed to allowing Japan to continue scientific whaling
albeit at reduced levels in the Antarctic Ocean and Pacific -- one of the plans
currently being considered.
On plans to allow coastal whaling in Japan, Holden questioned whether any such
operations would be economically viable -- given the costs involved and the
level of demand and price of whale meat -- and thought they would be a drain on
the taxpayer.
Japan has long claimed that it carries out whaling at environmentally
sustainable levels and also that it kills the mammals in a way which minimizes
suffering.
However, antiwhaling nations, led by Australia and Britain, argue that whales
remain an endangered species across the world and that there should be a
complete ban on hunting.
==Kyodo
2009-02-05 20:26:51