International Whaling Commission meets in Chile

The latest annual conference of the IWC (International Whaling Commission) has begun in the Chilean capital of Santiago, with new calls from conservationists to increase the protection of many species of whales rather than the existing system of ‘management’ of whale populations.

This is the IWC’s 60th annual meeting and issues to be discussed will include yet another vote regarding the creation of the Southern Atlantic whale sanctuary and there will also be protracted discussions on the topic of Japan’s highly controversial scientific whaling expeditions.

A worldwide ban on commercial whaling has been in place since the 1980’s, unfortunately many whale species are still facing the possibility of complete extinction.

The ban has not stopped in excess of 30,000 whales being hunted, including over 2,000 killed by three countries’ fleets, Iceland, Norway and most notoriously Japan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan says that the Japanese government vigorously supports protection of some endangered whale species and claims that the countries’ fleets do not have a significant impact on whale populations.

They support these claims by stating that minke whales are believed to number over 700,000 in the Atlantic alone, while they have only killed less than 600 minke in the last five years.

The IWC’s various factions have all pledged to avoid confrontational language and debate in an effort to reach agreement on important areas.

Protestors have also gathered for the meetings with several arrests already made on the first day of the meeting that is scheduled to last all week.