Harpoons fly in whaling body

By ANNE BESTON AND AGENCIES

Even the food at the International Whaling Commission comes with a side-dish of politics.

With this year's 54th IWC meeting being held in the former whaling port of Shimonoseki in Japan, it was always likely the Japanese would not be able to resist serving up whale meat to the group of anti-whalers in their midst.

Predictably, delegates from New Zealand, Australia and Britain opted for the beef or chicken.

As the opposing sides in the whaling debate lined up again this week knowing they had no chance of convincing the other side of the error of its ways, some countries fear for the future of the IWC.

The troubled organisation's annual get-together has again descended into a slanging match, as both sides experience frustration in pushing through their respective agendas.

New Zealand and Australia failed for the third time to gather enough votes for a South Pacific whale sanctuary, falling short of the 75 per cent needed - 24 nations voted for, 19 against and five abstained.

Last year, 20 voted in favour and 13 against, with four abstentions.

But despite that, Conservation Minister Sandra Lee, who heads the New Zealand delegation, reiterated the Government's support for the commission.

And while New Zealand and Australia might find their lack of success in establishing the sanctuary frustrating, Iceland got so fed up it simply walked out.

And before it left, delegates made a veiled threat to resume hunting. Delegate Stefan Asmundsson said his Government was looking at "other possibilities" after being denied membership of the IWC.

Iceland has had observer status since leaving the commission more than a decade ago but this year made a second bid to rejoin - with one condition - it would not necessarily abide by the IWC moratorium on whaling, introduced in 1986.

Anti-whalers refused to accept that and voted to deny Iceland voting rights.

Japan also threatened to withdraw its scientists from one of the commission's panels when it was denied permission to take an extra 50 whales to add to the 560 it kills every year for "scientific research".

In a sign of how divided the commission has become, even issues such as the renewal of hunting permits to indigenous peoples, including several in the United States, have become contentious.

Japan, usually a staunch supporter of such moves, said it might vote against renewal in apparent retaliation for the refusal to let it take the extra whales.

But unlike Iceland, neither pro-whalers nor anti-whalers are likely to walk away from the commission. When it comes to making international decisions on whaling, it is the only game in town.

Full text:
Sandra Lee's speech to International Whaling Commission

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