gram in Antarctica. The verdict has
now made this illegal, but it still leaves
Japan free to continue with research
whaling in the Northern Pacific.
Bethune said, “I have no idea why Australia and New Zealand left the Northern Pacific out of their case. If the research program in Antarctica is illegal,
then by definition so is the program in
the Northern Pacific but it will require
another court action to make this illegal
also.”
Bethune now feels that his actions back
in 2010 were not in vain and hopes that
in some small way what happened to
him contributed to today’s verdict.
“I lost my boat, spent five months in
prison for peacefully protesting against
what has now been confirmed as illegal
act ivities, and was paraded around in
Japan as a dangerous criminal which
was difficult to take at the time. If all
that was even a small part of the means
to this happy ending, then I’m bloody
happy to have gone through it all.”
Commercial Whaling
A protest march against whaling took
place in London with stops including
the Norwegian, Icelandic and Japanese
Embassies. It was part of a worldwide
anti-whaling initiative which saw
protests in over xx countries including
Tokyo, the United States, France and
In 1982 the IWC decided that there should be a Ireland.
http://iwc.int/commercial
The International Whaling Commission is
responsible for setting catch limits for commercial
whaling. It does this by adjusting the numerical
limits as laid out in the Schedule to the
International Convention for the Regulation of
Whaling (1946).
pause in commercial whaling on all stocks from the
1985/1986 season onwards. This pause is often
referred to as the commercial whaling moratorium,
and it is still in place today. The paragraph in the
Schedule to the International Convention for the
Regulation of Whaling that establishes the moratorium can be seen here.
Present Commercial Whaling
Norway and Iceland take whales commercially at
present, either under objection to the moratorium
decision or under reservation to it. These countries
establish their own catch limits but must provide
information on those catches and associated scientific
data to the Commission. The Russian Federation
has also registered an objection to the moratorium
decision but does not exercise it. The moratorium is
binding on all other members of the IWC.
Norway takes North Atlantic common minke
whales within its Exclusive Economic Zone, and
Iceland takes North Atlantic common minke
whales and also North Atlantic fin whales, again
within its Exclusive Economic Zone.
Find out more about
commercial whaling
9
“Young people aren’t entering the industry, and fewer people even within
the whaling nations – only around 5%
in Iceland for example – are eating
whale meat especially now that there is
widespread knowledge around its toxicity and contamination from methyl mercury”.
Despite the IWC moratorium, three Before the moratorium, the whaling
countries continue in the whaling industry wiped out some species of
industry.
whale altogether and decimated other
species and populations, some of which
Iceland and Norway openly whale
it is believed have yet to recover.
commercially, while Japan still maintains
it is carrying out ‘scientific’ whaling. IWC estimates of minke whale populaBetween them, quotas of up to 2,786 tions in some areas like the Southern
minke, fin and humpback whales could Hemisphere for example, haven’t been
be targeted in the next year.
produced since 1985. Yet Norway, Iceland and Japan insist their whaling opEarthrace Conservation UK which orerations are sustainable.
ganised the march, said, “It is increasingly difficult to understand why these As Earthrace UK see it, “The point
three countries persist with this uneco- about whaling is that there is no point –
nomic, indefensible and universally un- no money, no future, no respect. However, based on guesswork that whale
popular business.
populations are healthy and increasing,
“The only countries trading whale meat
we may even see other countries decidare Iceland, Norway and Japan. Even
ing to break the IWC moratorium in the
they don’t particularly want each others’
future. So we won’t end our protests
product with Japan using Iceland’s
until whaling is stopped for good.”
whale meat imports in dog food!