III

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. RES. 226

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the policy of the United States

at the 50th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 8, 1998

Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. KERRY, Mr.

AKAKA, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. GORTON, Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire, Mr.

ABRAHAM, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. GREGG, Mr. D’AMATO,

Mr. CHAFEE, and Mr. TORRICELLI) submitted the following resolution;

which was considered and agreed to

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the policy

of the United States at the 50th Annual Meeting of

the International Whaling Commission.

Whereas whales have very low reproductive rates, making

whale populations extremely vulnerable to pressure from

commercial whaling;

Whereas whales migrate throughout the world’s oceans and

international cooperation is required to successfully conserve and protect whale stocks;

Whereas in 1946 the nations of the world adopted the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which

established the International Whaling Commission to provide for the proper conservation of the whale stocks;
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SRES 226 ATS

Whereas the Commission adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982 in order to conserve and promote

the recovery of the whale stocks;

Whereas the Commission has designated the Indian Ocean

and the ocean waters around Antarctica as whale sanctuaries to further enhance the recovery of whale stocks;

Whereas many nations of the world have designated waters

under their jurisdiction as whale sanctuaries where commercial whaling is prohibited, and additional regional

whale sanctuaries have been proposed by nations that are

members of the Commission;

Whereas 2 member nations of the Commission have taken

reservations to the Commission’s moratorium on commercial whaling and 1 has recently resumed commercial

whaling operations in spite of the moratorium and the

protests of other nations;

Whereas another member nation of the Commission has

taken a reservation to the Commission’s Southern Ocean

Sanctuary and continues to conduct lethal scientific whaling in the waters of that sanctuary;

Whereas the Commission’s Scientific Committee has repeatedly expressed serious concerns about the scientific need

for such lethal whaling;

Whereas the lethal take of whales under reservations to the

Commissions policies have been increasing annually;

Whereas there continue to be indications that whale meat is

being traded on the international market despite a ban

on such trade under the Convention on International

Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and that meat

may be originating in one of the member nations of the

Commission; and
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SRES 226 ATS

Whereas 1998 is the International Year of the Ocean and the

Commission plays a leading role in global efforts to improve the state of the world’s oceans: Now, therefore, be

it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that—

2 (1) at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Inter3 national Whaling Commission in Oman the United

4 States should—

5 (A) remain firmly opposed to commercial

6 whaling;

7 (B) initiate and support efforts to ensure

8 that all activities conducted under reservations

9 to the Commission’s moratorium or sanctuaries

10 are ceased;

11 (C) oppose the lethal taking of whales for

12 scientific purposes unless such lethal taking is

13 specifically authorized by the Scientific Commit14 tee of the Commission;

15 (D) seek the Commission’s support for spe16 cific efforts by member nations to end illegal

17 trade in whale meat; and

18 (E) support the permanent protection of

19 whale populations through the establishment of

20 whale sanctuaries in which commercial whaling

21 is prohibited; and
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SRES 226 ATS

1 (2) make full use of all appropriate diplomatic

2 mechanisms, relevant international laws and agree3 ments, and other appropriate mechanisms to imple4 ment the goals set forth in paragraph (1).

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