What is the IWC The IWC was established in 1946 Voluntary organisation – not covered by law Now consists of 89 nations “Provide for the proper conservation of whole stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry” mission/convention.pdf mission/convention.pdf

In 1982 a moratorium (suspension) on commercial whaling was established by the IWC – Came into force in 1986 Japan, Russia, Peru, Iceland and Norway opposed it Only whaling that could take place was aboriginal and for scientific research – Japan has continued whaling under the guise of scientific research and Norway and Iceland continue to whale issuing their own permits because they oppose the suspension Overview of the IWC -

The IWC has three separate committees, these are scientific, technical and admin and finance. Head quarters in Cambridgeshire Around 6 states joining per year – do not have to be whaling nations

Why we need to halt whaling Population numbers have dropped dramatically over the last 200 years..... Especially in the early 20 th century. Whales and dolphins life history – K selected species (slow development, take a long time to reach breeding age, long gestation period) Allegedly whalers cannot target whales of certain species, whales with young and females of a certain age..... Easy to police????

Is the IWC ineffective? The IWC moratorium has many loopholes within it, as mentioned before these include scientific whaling, not recognising the moratorium and aboriginal whaling. 31,984 have been killed by whaling since the IWC moratorium atch?v=vZrNyAFTFso&feat ure=related

Scientific whaling Really? A loophole that is often used to get round no- catch quotas, the Japanese especially exploit this They very rarely publish any data on whale stocks though which the research is supposed to be for. The Japanese say that substantial whale numbers effect fish stocks – remember 99% of a rorqauls diet is krill!)

WWF data collection on species slaughtered since the moratorium... They include minkes (data deficient and least concern), sperm (vulnerable), brydes (data deficient), fin (endangered) and sei (endangered). killed_final.pdf killed_final.pdf

Countries with no interest in whaling are joining the IWC and get a vote. Bribes???? This works either way.... In the beginning China joined the IWC and voted against whaling..... Soon after they received 1 million from the WWF for a panda breeding centre. But..... Many more small nations (especially Caribbean) have joined and voted against the moratorium. As it is not an international law this cannot be enforced!

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Aboriginal whaling Whaling that has historically taken place. m/watch?v=1cuYnWvO rZc

The IWC does not take into account smaller cetacean species. Japan, Peru, Denmark, Solomon islands and the Faroe islands annually carry out ‘dolphin drives’. Species include long and short finned pilot whales, northern bottle-nosed whales, bottle-nosed dolphin and white sided dolphins. Narwhals and beluga whales are also harvested by local people around the Arctic circle (both are IUCN near threatened).

Other methods to regulate/ halt whaling Greenpeace - ns/oceans/whaling/ ns/oceans/whaling/ Sea Shepherd Just to end, take this into account - ure=related ure=related

Useful reads pets/wildlife/protect/whales/documents/iwc63-improve-iwc- operations.pdf pets/wildlife/protect/whales/documents/iwc63-improve-iwc- operations.pdf /Baker%26Palumbi.pdf 331/Baker%26Palumbi.pdf a.html a.html x/abstract;jsessionid=672E0E90BE46F85CDE89 B24B8E69067A.d02t02?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAcces sCustomisedMessage= x/abstract;jsessionid=672E0E90BE46F85CDE89 B24B8E69067A.d02t02?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAcces sCustomisedMessage