The International Whaling Commission released yesterday the draft of a proposal to regulate whales’ hunting in the next 10 years.
The initiative is intended to reduce gradually whales’ hunting in the Artic Ocean, which is now carried out by Japan, to a quarter of the total amount that is allowed nowadays. Under this agreement, the finback (Balaenoptera physalus) whale’s hunting would continue, in spite of being an endangered species. The presentation of this draft is the result of a two-year process with the aim of reaching a commitment between groups which are in favour of, and against finback whales’ hunting. 
  
In June, the proposal will be discussed during the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, although some conservationist groups have already criticized it. Whales’ hunting for commercial purposes was prohibited in the entire world in 1982. However, Iceland, Japan, and Norway continued this activity after a series of extensions, having captured together about 2,000 whales per year.  
 
“If we reach an agreement it will represent a step forward in terms of conservation and whale’s hunting management”, said Cristian Maquieira, director of the IWC. “For the first time after the moratorium for commercial hunting, we will have strict regulations for every whaling operation”, he added. 
 
Inhumane Activity 

Key countries, including the United Sates of America and Japan, merely said that they will study carefully the proposal. “Just the fact of having this draft under discussion shows how far IWC is from reality and modern values”, said Claire Bass, WSPA’s Programmes Manager for Marine Mammals. “They do not take into account that hitting a conscious animal with explosive harpoons is deeply inhumane”, she added.  


However, others argue that to impose a total banning for the whales’ hunting is impossible, and that a significant decrease in the specimen’s hunting together with an international supervising is a commitment that is worth to be accepted. In spite of this, to have included the finback whale’s hunting in the Artic Ocean – declared sanctuary for these cetaceans – in the proposal is still a worrying matter.  


In force for a decade 


Nowadays, Japan kills about 930 Minke whales and 50 finback whales per season in the Artic Ocean. According to the proposal, the hunting would be immediately reduced to 400, and then to 200 in season 2015/16. The finback whale’s quota would be reduced to 10 at the moment of the proposal approval, and to 5 in the 1023/14 season. Iceland, which last year hunted about 125 finback whales, would have a quota of 80 specimens of this species, and a quota of 80 Minke whales to hunt. 


If the set of measures proposed in the draft is approved by the IWC in June, they will be in force for 10 years and will have a revision in 5 years.  
 


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