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Whaling

The Petition of those concerned about whaling, Declares that the situation for whales is bleak. More than 30,000 whales have been killed for commercial purposes since the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling came into effect in 1986, in blatant disregard of global conservation efforts. In the next 12 months Japan and Norway intend to kill around 2,000 whales, including endangered species such as fin whales. Japan claims that the whaling it conducts is for scientific research. However, Japan’s ““scientific research”” is simply a means to carry on commercial whaling despite the moratorium. Whaling is also extremely cruel. There is simply no way to kill a whale humanely at sea. Japan has also been continuing its attempts to recruit more developing countries to the IWC in order to regain a simple majority at this year's IWC meeting in June and promote commercial whaling. If Japan were to succeed, it would be a disaster for whales. Many whale species have still not recovered from the intensive commercial whaling of the past and face many other threats such as climate change, ship strikes and pollution. It is therefore extremely important that the current pro-conservation majority at the IWC is both maintained and strengthened. The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to demand that the Japanese Government end its cruel and unnecessary "scientific" whaling programmes; to continue and enhance his efforts, at the highest ministerial and diplomatic levels to recruit more pro-conservation countries to the IWC and to persuade those countries which currently vote with Japan to vote instead for whale conservation; and to work with other anti-whaling countries to turn the IWC into a body exclusively focused on protecting and conserving whales for future generations. And the Petitioners remain, etc. —[Presented by Mr. David Anderson , Official Report, 24 June 2008; Vol. 478, c.261.][P000219] Observations from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs : Thank you for your Petition on the subject of Whaling, 24 June 2008. I have been asked to reply as policy on whaling is Defra's responsibility. The UK Government has consistently voiced its opposition to Japanese ““scientific”” whaling, and has made repeated representations to the Japanese Government regarding their whaling operations under the JARPA II Whaling programme. In December 2007 the UK called on Japan to ““cease all its lethal scientific research on whales, and assure the immediate return of the vessels which are implementing JARPA II””. The following month, Jonathan Shaw, as the minister responsible for whaling, met Japanese embassy officials to express the UK’s outrage over Japan’s whaling activities. The UK Government will continue to make our opposition to whaling known to Japan at every appropriate opportunity and argue that they are undermining the credibility of the IWC as an effective organisation for the conservation of whale stocks world-wide. 22 July 2008 : Column 32P The UK has also led an effort with other countries who share our view, to recruit more countries to the IWC through our publication ““Protecting Whales—A Global Responsibility”” (endorsed by Gordon Brown and Sir David Attenborough). This has been sent to over 60 countries urging nations to protect whales worldwide. In addition, in the build up to this year’s IWC meeting, the Secretary of State for Environment and the Foreign Secretary wrote to a dozen EU and Accession States encouraging them to join in the protection of the species. This approach has again brought success, with Romania joining the IWC and other EU member states pledging to join in the near future. The UK continued to uphold its strong opposition to whaling at the IWC’s annual meeting in Santiago in June 2008, urging the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to safeguard the future of all whales and dolphins. Speaking at the event, the Environment Minister Lord Rooker also spoke out about the current cruelty of whaling operations and called for Japan to reconsider the methods it uses. On commercial and scientific whaling Lord Rooker said: ““The UK will continue its vociferous opposition to this unnecessary, inhumane operation, and urge countries that continue to kill whales to reconsider their position””. I hope this is helpful.