"Only science will save the IWC"
says Japan
July 27, 2001.
Japan today called once again on the IWC to base their work on science and appealed
to delegates to leave emotion and personal political agendas at home. Minoru Morimoto,Japan’s Commissioner to the IWC urged U|K Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley and New
Zealand’s Conservation Minister Sandra Lee amongst others to stop using the IWC as aplatform to support their political positions at home.
As the 53rd annual meeting of the IWC drew to a close in London today Japan reminded
the world of the importance of marine resources to world food security and the need forwhales to be seen as a marine resource whose management should be based on
science and not emotion. Mr Morimoto summed up Japan’s feeling after yet anotherlargely deadlocked conference:"There has been some movement on issues that are important to us, but Japan still
remains extremely disappointed that once again emotion and political dogma hasoverridden science and blocked any progress on completion of the Revised
Management Scheme (RMS). The IWC is a whaling organisation, its remit is to manageand conserve whale stocks to allow the orderly development of the whaling industry. It is
not a protectionist organisation, and non-whaling members who are continually blocking
the adoption of the RMS are simply damaging the credibility of the Commission. Other
international organisations are getting increasingly frustrated by the IWC’s inability tomake any substantial progress in the sustainable management of whales. If we areunable to release this deadlock soon the very existence of the IWC will come intoquestion.""Despite our disappointment over the RMS we were pleased to see the Commission
unanimously adopted our joint resolution with the US on the urgent need for further
research into the relationship between whales and fish stocks. We have been
conducting specific research into this topic for some years and it is very pleasing tohave the importance of this issue recognised by the Commission."
Mr Morimoto went on to commend the Commission’s decision to reject, once again,
New Zealand and Australia’s proposal for a whale sanctuary in the South Pacific. "Thisshould send a strong message that their proposal was not based on science, was notneeded for conservation purposes and frustrated rather than fulfilled the legalobligations of the Commission to resume whaling on a sustainable basis." TheCommission also rejected a proposal by Brazil for a sanctuary in the South Atlantic.
The Commission’s decision to prevent Iceland from returning to the IWC is in the view ofJapan in contravention of customary international law. "This action was taken despite
the fact Iceland had fulfilled all the legal requirements for membership and had paid its

membership contribution in full. Iceland had rejoined the IWC with a legal reservation on
the moratorium on commercial whaling. This is just another demonstration that the IWCis dysfunctional," said Mr Morimoto.
"We are pleased that this meeting has seen half of the member nations supporting prouse policies. This should begin to dispel the myth that it is just Japan and Norway
against the rest of world. This is simply not true. Sustainable use is now the world
recognised standard for international conservation and management organisations so it
should be of no surprise that the number of delegate countries supporting pro-use
continues to grow each year."
Mr Morimoto concluded by looking forward to next year: "Japan is looking forward towelcoming the Commission to Shimonoseki next year and hope that we can continue
the progress towards the normalisation of the IWC and the long awaited adoption of theRMS."