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Bermuda waters declared a whale sanctuary
"Bermuda waters have been declared a sanctuary for whales, it was announced yesterday. Government Information Services (GIS) said a British MP Elliott Morley had requested the Island be declared "a haven for whales" at a recent meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Adelaide, Australia.
"Bermuda has given all whales and dolphins complete protection within the area of its 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone under the
Fisheries Act," a GIS spokesman said. "This legislation prohibits the
capturing killing or attempting to capture or kill any whale or dolphin."
September 13, 2000
US and Japan clash over whaling
Kono and Albright clash over whaling --Japan Times September 13
NEW YORK (Kyodo) Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright clashed Monday over Japan's expanded whaling program, with both warning of retaliatory measures.
The dispute surfaced during a 55-minute meeting that also had Kono and Albright exchanging views over nuclear disarmament, reform of the United Nations and Myanmar. Both were here for the U.N. Millennium General Assembly session.
Albright conveyed "strong disappointment" over Japan's decision to expand its whaling program to include other endangered species, such as sperm and Bryde's whales, and warned that Washington is looking at possible measures under U.S. law, a State Department official said.
In response, Kono told Albright that Japan "will take action under
international laws should the U.S. impose trade sanctions," a Foreign
Ministry official said.
The Japanese official said Japan's measures could include lodging a
complaint with the World Trade Organization. Kono said the species covered by the whaling program are not endangered and that the program is for internationally permitted "scientific research" purposes. "We should deal with the issue calmly," Kono was quoted as saying.
But Albright made it clear that "we care greatly about this subject" in
urging Japan to reconsider the program, the U.S. official said.
Washington announced last month a set of protest actions, including the cancellation of regular bilateral fisheries talks, a boycott of two
environmental meetings in Japan and opposition to Japan playing host next year to an International Whaling Commission gathering.
Washington also is considering trade sanctions. Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta will decide this month whether to ask President Bill Clinton to call for sanctions, which could include an import curb, by invoking a U.S. law aimed at countries judged to have threatened
to endanger fishery resources.
Sperm and Bryde's whales are protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, and sperm whales are listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Japan has decided to include in this year's whaling program a plan to
catch 10 sperm whales and 50 Bryde's whales, as well as 100 minke whales, in the Northwestern Pacific.
Four Japanese whaling vessels, part of a six-vessel fleet, left Japan in
late July under the "scientific whaling" program, despite a personal
appeal sent to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori from Clinton urging Japan to reconsider the plan.
The meat from Japan's "scientific" hunts reportedly ends up in posh
restaurants
September 12, 2000
Conservation groups oppose Faroe whale slaughter
By Margot Higgins
A fishing boat spots a school of long-finned pilot whales off the Faroe
Islands in Europe. Within minutes, the small whales are herded onto the nearest shore, local islanders are signaled and a hunt begins.
Every year hundreds of pilot whales are slaughtered off the Faroe
Islands, a territory of Denmark, which are located about 200 miles northwest of Scotland in the North Atlantic. Over the past week, 150 whales have beenkilled in the area, conservation groups report.
It's never easy to be the little guy. As a "small cetacean", the pilot whale is not covered by the regulations of the International Whaling Commission. For years, there has been much debate as to whether or not smaller species of whales and dolphins should be included under the auspice of the commission, which has banned commercial
whaling since 1986. Under IWC rules, subsistence whaling is permitted in Denmark, Greenland, the Russian Federation, St, Vincent and the Grenadine Islands in the Caribbean and the United States.
"We think that having the IWC's scientific and management expertise
covering all whales is a critical issue," said Karen Steuer, the director of commercial exploitation and trade of wild animals for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "Smaller whales, which are often subject to unsustainable hunts are falling through the cracks."
Faroese hunters claim the practice of killing pilot whales is an age-old
communal, noncommercial hunt aimed at meeting the community's need for whale meat and blubber. "It all looks quite violent but each animal is dealt with so fast that the pain is brief," the Danish Embassy states, noting that the animal is not considered an endangered species.
Conservationists say the practice is outdated, cruel and unnecessary for a place with one of the highest standards of living in Europe.
Paul Watson, the founder and executive director of Sea Shepherd
International has observed the Faroese whale hunts first hand. "They literally saw through the animal's spine to kill them," Watson said.
"People tend to drink a lot and it's a big party akin to the Roman
gladiator games. There is no place for this in the modern world."
Watson said it is not uncommon for 100 whales to be slaughtered at a
time. "The Faroese are wiping out entire pods and family groups," he notes. "The number of North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales is unknown and they are listed as 'strictly protected' by the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. Aside from the barbarism and pointlessness of the act, such a practice is a direct threat to genetic diversity. They are removing building blocks from the gene pool of the species and damaging the web of life in the North Atlantic and the North Sea."
While the Danish embassy states that the whale meat accounts for a
quarter of the islanders' annual meat consumption, conservation groups claim most of the whales go to waste."Many whales are left to rot on the beach or are thrown back to sea after they are killed," said Andrew Christie, the director of the American Chapter of Sea Shepherd.
Pilot whales have the highest level of mercury contamination of any
cetacean, Christie adds. By law, the islanders are only allowed to eat
whale meat once every two weeks.
For years, Sea Shepherd has been trying to put economic pressure on the Faroe Islands in order to stop the whale hunt. Their efforts are gaining momentum. The organization has convinced over 20,000 grocery stores in Germany not to carry Faroese seafood products.
Since large oil deposits have recently been discovered near the Faroe
Islands, Sea Shepherd is also targeting oil companies to sanction the
Danish protectorate.
Still many other conservation groups, including the International Fund
for Animal Welfare, have not made small cetaceans, such as the pilot whales a high priority. "We all have limited resources and we have to put out the fires where we can," Steuer said.
> >Copyright 2000, Environmental News Network
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