Tensions rise on aboriginal whaling

Tensions rise on aboriginal whaling

The world's whale body entered heated talks Tuesday on whaling rights for indigenous peoples, as conservation advocates raised concerns about the hunt in the Caribbean and Greenland.

A Minke whale and calf rise to the surface in this photo taken from a Bass and Flinders whale watching boat off the coast near Sydney. The world's whale body entered heated talks Tuesday on whaling rights for indigenous peoples, as conservation advocates raised concerns about the hunt in the Caribbean and Greenland.

The notoriously polarized International Whaling Commission kicked off annual talks Monday with the defeat of a proposal to create a new no-kill sanctuary in the South Atlantic, with Japan and its pro-whaling allies fighting against it.
Aboriginal whaling is much smaller in scale than Japanese and Norwegian expeditions, making it less controversial as even staunch environmentalists accept that indigenous people do not put whale populations at risk.
But talks in Panama City are considering a package to extend whaling quotas after they expire this year for indigenous people in three places -- the US state of Alaska, Russia's far northeast and the Caribbean nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The US and Russian proposals enjoyed broad support, but anti-whaling nations have questioned the authenticity of claims to indigenous whaling in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as well as a separate proposal for Greenland.
India, which has an active animal rights movement, said that it would back aboriginal whaling but called for efforts to shift indigenous people away from hunting to peaceful activities such as whale-watching.
The stance brought a heated retort from Russia, which accused India of failing to understand the meager dietary options open to aboriginal people.
"India should take into consideration the harsh climate where the Inuits are living," Russian delegate Valentin Ilyashenko said.
"Aboriginal people rely on the diet of marine mammals. There is no rice in the tundra and regrettably whale-watching can't substitute for food sources," he said.
Edwin Snagg, the representative from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, noted that his nation of some 100,000 people has consistently had the right to aboriginal hunts since the 1986 global moratorium on commercial whaling.
Raising questions about the hunt "is really retrogressive and regrettable. It brings us to ask the question, where is the future of the IWC?" he said.
But critics say that the Caribbean nation's whaling dates to the 19th century -- not to pre-colonial times as in other cases.
The nation hunts humpback whales -- admired around the world for their advanced communication patterns. The US-based Animal Welfare Institute charges that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has used cruel methods including trying to puncture whales' hearts or lungs and targetting calves and their mothers.
"To me, a tradition initiated by a settlers family as recently as 1875 does not qualify as aboriginal, so we may ask a fundamental question -- is there justification for further approval of this quota?" said Monaco's delegate Frederic Briand, a veteran campaigner for whales.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has proposed killing up to 24 humpback whales between 2013 and 2018, consistent with previous quotas, and has said that the meat will all be consumed domestically.
The United States supported Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, saying the country was making progress in addressing concerns and voicing worry about the defeat of the overall package that includes US and Russian wishes.
Separate from the three countries, Denmark made its own proposal on behalf of Greenland that would allow the hunting of up to 1,326 whales there between 2013 and 2018, including up to 10 humpback whales a year.
Denmark said that the whaling is consistent with international standards, but the Animal Welfare Institute said that 77 percent of restaurants in Greenland served whale meat.
"Aboriginal whaling is supposed to be for subsistence, so if the whale meat is being served to tourists there is obviously a surplus," said Susan Millward, executive director of the Animal Welfare Institute.
Russia has proposed the right for aboriginal people to hunt up to 744 gray whales between 2013 and 2018, while the United States proposed a hunt of up to 336 bowhead whales over the same time period.