UPDATE: Japan Threatens To Pull Out of IWC

Japan, which offers whale meat in upscale restaurants and school lunches, requested on 6 June that CITES authorize a full review of the population status of the 13 great whale species. It hoped that such a review would lead CITES to recommend lifting the ban for some great whale populations...On the same day, Iceland submitted a proposal asking for a review of the central North Atlantic fin whale...Cetacean researchers regarded both proposals as a challenge to IWC's ban, as well as to its authority as the recognized international body for assessing and managing whale populations.

To the researchers' relief, CITES Animals Committee voted down Japan's review request on 6 June, and Australia attached an amendment to Iceland's proposal, calling for the committee to not conduct any review of large whales until the commercial ban is lifted. The decision was also a victory for the relationship between IWC and CITES, with the CITES Animals Committee agreeing that it would not review the status of any large whale species as long as IWC's hunting moratorium is in place. "It means the status quo will be retained," says Nicky Grandy, a marine biologist and secretary of the IWC.

Japan continues to stand by its position that "living marine resources" should be managed "for use"--a view shared by Iceland--and is considering withdrawing from IWC. Both countries, along with Norway, continue to hunt whales. Japan relies on a loophole within IWC that permits scientific whaling (Science, 27 April, p. 532), while Iceland hunts minke and fin whales in the North Atlantic under an objection to the ban. IWC has no authority to enforce the ban, but CITES regulations prevent these countries from selling the whale meat internationally.

Japan's priority for this 59th IWC meeting was to secure a small commercial catch of minke whales for four of its coastal communities with a history and culture of whaling.

Anti-whaling countries regarded this as a breach of the 21-year moratorium on commercial hunting...

...Another of Japan's alternate commissioners, Akira Nakamae, declared that establishing a rival organisation was a possibility.

"We're greatly interested in the idea of holding a preparatory meeting setting up a conservation and management organisation for cetaceans which... could be a replacement for IWC," he said.

...any Contracting Government may grant to any of its nationals a special permit authorizing that national to kill, take and treat whales for purposes of scientific research...

Any whales taken under these special permits shall so far as practicable be processed and the proceeds shall be dealt with in accordance with directions issued by the Government by which the permit was granted.

Any government can 'object' to any decision which it considers to seriously affect its national interest, provided it is done within 90 days of notification of the decision...without such a right (common to many international agreements), a government would still have been able to withdraw from the Convention and thus not be bound by any of the regulations.

A Japanese decision to leave the IWC would be a major blow to the organisation's relevance, as it is now the world's major whaling nation.