Commercial Whaling: Fallen Out of Time
NGO briefing calls for end of commercial whaling and highlights the need to reinforce the IWC whaling moratorium.
A coalition of species and animal protection organisations, namely the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), OceanCare, Pro Wildlife and Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) have just published a fact-based report ahead of the 69th Meeting of the IWC, currently underway in Lima, Peru. The report demonstrates that commercial whaling is unsustainable, inhumane and unnecessary. It calls on all IWC member states to reaffirm the continuation of the moratorium and promote the conservation of all whales. The Resolution proposed by the European Union addressing commercial whaling activities and stressing the need for and importance of the moratorium is particularly welcomed.
About 3 million large whales were killed with explosive harpoons in the 20th century, severely decimating global whale populations. The 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling enacted by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) saved several whale species from extinction and allowed some populations to recover. However, despite the global ban on whaling, Iceland, Norway and Japan continued commercial whaling. These countries have lodged formal objections or reservations to the moratorium, or in the case of Japan, used to categorise their whaling as “scientific research”. In 2029 Japan left the IWC altogether and now overtly hunts whales commercially.
As the moratorium was agreed on the understanding that it would be a temporary measure to allow whale populations to recover from the over-exploitation of previous decades, there are repeated calls from the whaling nations and countries in support of pro-whaling policies to now lift the ban and allow commercial whaling to resume. Strong resistance from countries opposed to whaling and civil society who wish to protect whales from any further hunting activities have so far managed to fend off these efforts to overturn the whaling ban.
In the more than 40 years since the moratorium was adopted, the IWC has evolved into an essential body of conservation experts, addressing the myriads of other threats that whales face in the modern world, from climate change to plastic pollution. IWC´s scientist and scientific committees are best equipped to monitor whale populations and guide conservation efforts. However, the continued whaling by Norway, Iceland and Japan and the ever-present threat of the moratorium being lifted, seriously undermine these efforts and calls into question the sustainability of conservation measures being implemented.
At the time of writing, the 2024 Norwegian whaling season has closed as of 19th September 2024 according to Råfisklaget, with 414 whales killed. “These are 414 animals too many. There is just no justification for commercial whaling activities in the 21st century – whaling is unsustainable, inhumane and completely unnecessary. The whaling nations are grimly clinging to their whaling industry which can only be kept artificially alive through large capital injections and government subsidies. It is time to fully consign commercial whaling to the history books”, says Nicolas Entrup, OceanCare´s Director of International Relations, who leads OceanCare´s delegation at the IWC in Lima.
OceanCare has been advocating to end all whaling activities since 1992, including as an observer with the IWC.