IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 425

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the policy

of the United States at the 50th Annual meeting of the International

Whaling Commission.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 7, 1998

Mr. METCALF submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives 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 whale stocks;
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Whereas the Commission adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982 in order to conserve and promote

the recovery of 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 the

commercial killing of whales 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 a

reservation to the Commission’s moratorium on commercial whaling and have 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

Commission’s policies has 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 the

meat may be originating in one of the member nations

of the Commission; and
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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 House of Rep2 resentatives that—

3 (1) at the 50th annual meeting of the Inter4 national Whaling Commission in Oman the United

5 States should—

6 (A) remain firmly opposed to any resump7 tion of commercial whaling;

8 (B) initiate and support efforts at the

9 Commission to ensure that all activities con10 ducted under reservations to the Commission’s

11 moratorium or whale sanctuaries are ceased;

12 (C) oppose the lethal taking of whales for

13 scientific purposes unless such lethal taking is

14 specifically authorized by the scientific commit15 tee of the Commission;

16 (D) seek the Commission’s support for spe17 cific efforts by member nations to end illegal

18 trade in whale meat; and

19 (E) support the permanent protection of

20 whale populations through the establishment of

21 whale sanctuaries in which the commercial kill22 ing of whales is prohibited; and
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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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