And so, the Japanese government has finally managed to recruit a majority at the annual International Whaling Commission (IWC) meetings, held this June in St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. The pro-whaling countries presented a rather dubious document called the “St. Kitts and Nevis Declaration”. The final tally was 33 to 32 for the whalers led by Japan, Norway and Iceland, with China abstaining. Denmark was the only European Union country to vote with the whalers.

 

The St. Kitts and Nevis Declaration says, among other things, that the moratorium on whaling is unnecessary, conservation groups are a threat to governments, and that "scientific research has shown that whales consume huge quantities of fish making the issue a matter of food security”.

 

Regarding the first two points, it would be wonderful both if conservation groups could pose more of a threat or at least have a real voice in government, and if the moratorium on whaling were unnecessary. Unfortunately, the moratorium remains necessary due to the rapaciousness of whalers and the free-for-all that persists on the high seas – as well as due to the marginalization of conservation groups in certain countries.

 

On the third point, the declaration tries to invoke science to show that whales are eating too much fish and need to be culled. No scientist can prove such a thesis. This provocative statement turns to nonsense on the word “huge”. As Mark Simmonds, WDCS Director of Science and long-time member of the IWC Scientific Committee says, what precisely is a “huge” quantity?

 

I am glad that the St. Kitts Declaration calls for the “need for science-based policy” but I fear that the science will be more of the pseudo-science which has characterized so-called “scientific whaling” pursued by Japan to keep the whaling business afloat the past two decades in defiance of the moratorium. If whaling countries retain control of the IWC, “science” is going to be a much-abused term.

 

The St. Kitts and Nevis Declaration signals the majority desire within the IWC to get back to the old business of whaling. This marks a truly sad day in the long, intertwined history of humans and whales. It is also a sad day for St. Kitts and the Caribbean whose connection to whaling (beyond the money for fishing ports and other things from the Japanese government) is modest indeed, but whose image may long be tarnished with this brush. I hope not too much tarnished, for the Caribbean remains a great place to visit, to go whale and dolphin watching, to relax and enjoy Caribbean hospitality. And it is also a sad day for Japan.

 

Where is the Japanese public on this issue? Few Japanese people eat or even would like to eat whale meat (less than 1%, according to surveys) despite media campaigns by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR). The ICR distributes whale meat throughout most of Japan (all prefectures except Okinawa) but there are substantial stockpiles because, even with subsidies, there aren’t enough people willing to eat it. Some of it is now being turned into dog food.

 

In a recent CNN interview, Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan, said that the whaling agenda in Japan is being pushed (read: thrashed to death) by a small, narrowly focused group within the government. Kingston’s recent book, Japan’s Quiet Transformation, explains how the Japanese government’s continued support of whaling is complicated by the mainly single party system with entrenched patronage trying to hold on to power in Japan, the repercussions from the financial crisis and the “lost decade” of the 1990s, and Japan’s relationship to the USA (in which whaling remains a relatively minor issue on which Japan can assert itself vs the US, while bowing to US pressure on defense and security matters). Nevermind that Japan’s whaling policy is expensive and arguably counterproductive for the interests of the country as a whole. Japanese taxpayers foot the tax bill for whaling and promotion of whaling, but it’s all presented as part of a larger package of fisheries research (including predator control; here we go, back to the whales eat too much fish argument). Kingston documents how things are changing for Japan’s “civil society”, with increasing empowerment of the people fed up by government scandals and poor handling of the economy in recent years. Still, it is another, much bigger step for the Japanese public, or for any country’s people, to become truly educated and empowered on environmental issues.

 

The many Japanese people I meet on my annual visits to Japan have no interest in eating whales. They are warm and friendly and are busy having “peak experiences” with dolphins and whales in the wild. Sometimes in Japan after a great day out on the water with whales, or talking to a group of enthusiastic children and their parents, I am sure that the day cannot be far off when they demand that their government change its policies over whaling, dolphin hunting and protecting marine habitats. Will the government listen? That’s another story. And it won’t have a chance unless enough people demand to be heard.

 

For now, the question is: Will we see an immediate overturn of the whaling moratorium in the IWC? The answer is “no”: It will take a 3/4 majority among the IWC member nations for this to happen, and the whalers are still some distance from 3/4 support. Still, with simple majorities, the narrow whaling group led by Japan may start to strip the IWC of its valuable conservation and scientific initiatives. Bit by bit, it may render the IWC useless as an international conservation organization, to the point that its actions become damaging to whale populations. Originally, the IWC was a whalers’ club and the first members in the mid-1940s did little more than divide the then remaining stocks of whales. In the past two decades, the IWC has shown for the first time that it could be an organization that could help whale populations recover. Now this recent legacy hangs in the balance.

 

When and if Japan gains control of the IWC, it will have enormous power over the fate of whales. At that point, the Japanese government’s objective will have been achieved. But then the Japanese people will have to ask themselves: do we want the power – and the huge responsibility that comes with power – to decide the fate of the world’s whales?