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Whales in Search of Safe Seas |
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By Diego Cevallos*
Ecologists are celebrating the approval of the International Whaling Commission’s so-called "Berlin Initiative", which could go a long way towards saving whales, large and small, from extinction.
MEXICO CITY - The giant blue whales and much smaller killer whales and sea cows could have safe homes and even escape extinction as a result of the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) "Berlin Initiative", say environmentalists.
Despite loud objections from Norway and Japan, world leaders in whale hunting, the proposal to set up a special whale protection committee won by a vote of 25 to 20 at the annual IWC meeting, held Jun. 16-19 in Berlin.
Since its creation in the mid-1940s, when whale populations were still relatively numerous, the Commission has focused almost exclusively on regulating commercial hunting and preventing poaching.
Now, through the new committee, experts from around the world will focus efforts on other factors that threaten whale survival: pollution, climate change, and the impacts of nets and sonar.
"This is a landmark decision. Conservation has been put at the heart of the IWC," Silvia Manzanillo, Mexico's alternate representative to the Commission, told Tierramérica from Berlin.
Mexico and Germany, the annual meeting's hosts, sponsored the Berlin Initiative, which was supported by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, the United States and others.
Panama voted against creating the conservation committee, aligning itself with Japan -- and causing an outcry at home.
"Our frustration has just increased," Masayuki Komatsu, Japan's delegate, told a press conference. His country failed to win an end to the commercial whale-hunting ban that has been in place since 1986.
Nevertheless, Japan is believed to catch 700 whales each year, under an IWC clause that protects hunting for "scientific purposes."
"We commented to the Japanese representative that half of the countries on the Commission do not see whales as a fishing resource, but rather as wildlife requiring special protection," Manzanillo said.
Environmental organizations from around the world applauded the vote on the Berlin Initiative.
"This is the biggest victory since the implementation of the hunting moratorium in 1986," says Beatriz Bugueda, of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
"Mexico's actions were commendable. The country has proven itself a leader in global conservation of whales," she said in a conversation with Tierramérica.
IFAW serves as a consultant to several governments, and participated in the Berlin meet as an observer, sending 18 of its own delegates.
Although the IWC members voted down the creation of whale sanctuaries in the Atlantic and Southern Pacific oceans, environmentalists remain optimistic. The Berlin Initiative opens the doors for promoting sustainable whale populations, they say.
"This isn't just about not killing whales. It is about promoting their sustainable use, such as through eco-tourism, a million-dollar industry," Manzanillo said.
Representatives from the whale-watching business, which takes in more than a billion dollars a year, attended the IWC meet for the first time in Berlin.
* Diego Cevallos is an IPS correspondent.
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