III 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 99 

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the policy of the United 

States at the 58th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 12, 2006 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. KERRY, Mrs. DOLE, Mrs. 

BOXER, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. REED, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. 

LEIBERMAN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. DODD, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, 

Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. DAYTON, Mr. JEFFORDS, 

Ms. LANDRIEU, and Mr. KENNEDY) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the policy 

of the United States at the 58th Annual Meeting of 

the International Whaling Commission. 

Whereas whales have very low reproductive rates, making 

many 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 a significant number of the nations of 

the world adopted the International Convention for 

the Regulation of Whaling, which established the 


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International Whaling Commission to provide for the 

proper conservation of whale stocks; 

Whereas in 2003 the Commission established a Conservation Committee, open to all members of the Commission, for the purpose of facilitating efficient and effective coordination and development of conservation 

recommendations and activities, which are fully consistent with the conservation objectives stated in the 

1946 Convention; 

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

promote the recovery of whale stocks, many of which 

had been hunted to near extinction by the commercial whaling industry; 

Whereas the rights of indigenous people to whale for subsistence purposes has been specifically recognized 

under the 1946 Convention; 

Whereas the Commission has designated the Indian 

Ocean and part of the ocean 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 two member nations that lodged objections to 

the Commission’s moratorium on commercial whaling 

when it was adopted continue to hold such objections, 

a third member nation asserted a reservation to the 

moratorium on rejoining the Commission, and one 


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member nation is currently conducting commercial 

whaling operations in spite of the moratorium and 

the protests of other nations; 

Whereas the Commission has adopted several resolutions 

at recent meetings asking member nations to halt 

commercial whaling activities conducted under reservation to the moratorium and to refrain from 

issuing special permits for research involving the killing of whales; 

Whereas one member nation of the Commission has 

taken a reservation to the Commission’s Southern 

Ocean Sanctuary and also continues to conduct unnecessary lethal scientific whaling in the Southern 

Ocean and in the North Pacific Ocean; 

Whereas one member nation is conducting unnecessary 

lethal scientific whaling in the Atlantic; 

Whereas whale meat and blubber is being sold commercially from whales killed pursuant to such unnecessary lethal scientific whaling, further undermining 

the moratorium on commercial whaling; 

Whereas the Commission has repeatedly expressed serious concerns about the scientific need for such lethal 

research and recognizes the importance of demonstrating and expanding the use of non-lethal scientific research methods; 

Whereas more than 9,150 whales have been killed in lethal scientific whaling programs since the adoption of 

the commercial whaling moratorium and the lethal 

take of whales under scientific permits has increased 

both in quantity and species, and a new program 


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would take minke, Bryde’s, sei, fin, humpback, and 

sperm whales; 

Whereas, one member nation is harvesting whales on an 

unprecedented scale in the name of scientific research, and plans to take up to 935 minke whales, 

50 humpback whales, and 50 fin whales in the Antarctic, and 220 minke whales, 50 Bryde’s whales, 

100 sei whales and 10 sperm whales in the North 

Pacific. Sei, sperm, humpback, and fin whales are all 

endangered species; 

Whereas engaging in commercial whaling under reservation and lethal scientific whaling undermines the conservation program of the Commission; 

Whereas discussions are taking place within the Commission on a Revised Management Scheme (RMS) that 

would regulate any possible future commercial whaling; 

Whereas any decision to lift the moratorium against commercial whaling, or to allow commercial whaling in 

any other form, must be taken independently from 

negotiations and adoption of an RMS; 

Whereas any RMS must include or be conditioned on the 

concurrent adoption of provisions similar to those in 

other international agreements related to fisheries 

and marine mammals, including transparent and 

neutral observer mechanisms, and effective compliance and dispute settlement mechanisms; 

Whereas to be effective, if an RMS is adopted, any future 

commercial whaling must take place pursuant to the 

RMS, and without reservation to any of its substantive provisions; and 


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Whereas any decision to lift the moratorium against commercial whaling must be conditioned on the immediate cessation of lethal scientific whaling: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring) That it is the sense of the Congress that— 

3 (1) at the 58th Annual Meeting of the Inter4 national Whaling Commission the United States 

5 should— 

6 (A) remain firmly opposed to commercial 

7 whaling and any linking of adoption of a Re8 vised Management Scheme (RMS) to the lifting 

9 of the commercial whaling moratorium or allow10 ing commercial whaling in any other form; 

11 (B) initiate and support efforts to ensure 

12 that all activities conducted under reservations 

13 to the Commission’s moratorium or sanctuaries 

14 are ceased; 

15 (C) seek to ensure that any RMS includes, 

16 or is conditioned on the concurrent adoption of 

17 provisions similar to those in other international 

18 agreements related to fisheries and marine 

19 mammals, including transparent and neutral 

20 observer mechanisms, and effective compliance 

21 and dispute settlement mechanisms; 


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1 (D) insist that any future commercial 

2 whaling must take place pursuant to the RMS 

3 without reservations to any of its substantive 

4 provisions, and that lethal scientific whaling 

5 must immediately cease upon the commence6 ment of any commercial whaling; 

7 (E) uphold the rights of indigenous people 

8 to whale for subsistence purposes, and firmly 

9 reject any attempts to compromise such rights 

10 or to equate commercial whaling with such 

11 rights; 

12 (F) initiate or support efforts to end the 

13 lethal taking of whales for scientific purposes, 

14 seek support for expanding the use of non-le15 thal research methods, and seek to end the sale 

16 of whale meat and blubber from whales killed 

17 for unnecessary lethal scientific research; 

18 (G) support proposals for the permanent 

19 protection of whale populations through the es20 tablishment of whale sanctuaries and other 

21 zones of protection in which commercial whal22 ing is prohibited; 

23 (H) support efforts to expand data collec24 tion on whale populations, monitor and reduce 


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1 whale bycatch and other incidental impacts, and 

2 otherwise expand whale conservation efforts; 

3 (I) support the adoption of an active pro4 gram of work by the Conservation Committee to 

5 address the full range of threats to whales, and 

6 otherwise expand whale conservation efforts; 

7 (J) call upon the Contracting Parties to 

8 the Convention to submit to the Commission for 

9 discussion within the Conservation Committee 

10 national approaches, including laws, regulations 

11 and other initiatives, that further the conserva12 tion of cetaceans; and 

13 (2) the United States should make full use of 

14 all appropriate diplomatic mechanisms, Federal law, 

15 relevant international laws and agreements, and 

16 other appropriate mechanisms to implement the 

17 goals set forth in paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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