by B. Stone

Created on: July 02, 2009

Man has been hunting whales for thousands of years. For the majority of that time, the scope of whaling was so small that populations were never diminished. Whales were used efficiently, for their meat, as well as their enormous stores of fat; they were not exploited and over-hunted. With modern whaling methods however, many great whale stocks have decreased at an alarming rate, leaving species on the brink of extinction.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set-up in 1946 under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which was signed in December of that year. The purpose of the convention was " to provide for proper conservation of whale stocks, and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry." The IWC did not originate as a whale conservation agency, but rather of regulator of the whaling industry. As stocks declined sharply during the first thirty years of the Convention's inception, the IWC shifted gears, focusing on the preservation of whales at all, let alone allowing restrained whaling. There has been an international moratorium on commercial whaling since 1986.

The IWC has been a blanket organization for the study and preservation of whales, as well as a manager of the international whaling industry. Its purpose, as set out in 1946, has been to review whale populations and effects of the whaling industry, and revise as necessary, based on scientific evidence. The Commission does its own scientific evaluation, but also funds and encourages others to do scientific research.

They are charged with many responsibilities, too many it could be argued; the protection of whale species, the designation of whale sanctuaries, and setting limits as to which whales, and in what numbers can be killed. The IWC watches over the great whale species - minke, blue, fin, gray, right, and humpback whales to name a few. They more recently have taken an interest into the protection of small cetaceans, namely dolphins and porpoises.

Up until the 1970's the whaling industry and biologists operated under the pretense of a sort of natural equilibrium. The understanding was, that whale limits could stay below sustainable numbers because whale populations would bounce back on their own. Fewer whales meant more food and earlier maturation for those that did exist. This theory did not come to pass. By the 1980's many species were on the endangered species lists. In 1982, the IWC decided to put a moratorium on commercial whaling of all species in 1986. The ban is still in place.

Whales continue to be hunted, and populations have failed to increase; they are in fact in many cases still dangerously low. Whaling by indigenous populations is permitted, and whaling for scientific research is allowed, as it is not 'commercial whaling'. Japan practices scientific research whaling, although it is assumed with the high numbers of whales which they are killing that they are using the whales for commercial purposes. Norway and Iceland both practice commercial whaling. The IWC allows members to opt out of regulations as long as they submit a formal protest within a certain period of time.

The International Whaling Commission holds meetings every year. This year they were held in Madeira, Portugal at the end of June. Topics of discussion included small cetaceans, collisions of whales and ships, and new sanctuaries. Unfortunately, there are many factors contributing to the demise of the great beasts of the ocean, not only whale hunting. Until all of these issues are addressed the great whales are likely to remain in small numbers, and the whaling industry will as well remain on the fringe.

Sources:

IWC

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