Santiago talk-fest should focus on the right whale
Matthew Warren; 23/6/08
Political capital is like many natural resources: it’s a finite resource and needs to be managed carefully to maximise its value. Environment Minister Peter Garrett is in Chile this morning, leading Australia’s delegation to the International Whaling Commission. The Rudd Government has the wallet out in Santiago, splashing out big on the annual whaling pantomime with Japan. Its preoccupation with big symbolism is crowding out more urgent but less populist international fisheries management problems. Blanket opposition to any type of whaling is an old argument dating back to the early 1980s, when continued over-exploitation pushed a number of species close to extinction. As it is, continued Japanese whaling under the scientific exemption to the 1986 moratorium is tokenistic rather than market driven. Japan deliberately defies the moratorium to prevent the principles of customary law allowing other countries’ policy agenda to overtake its own.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23904918-7583,00.html
Australia to argue need for whale ban; 22/6/08; http://news.theage.com.au/national/australia-to-argue-need-for-whale-ban-20080623-2v25.html
South Atlantic whale sanctuary new test for IWC
Andrew Darby; 23/6/08
A bid to make the South Atlantic a whale sanctuary is emerging as a test of hopes for compromise in the deeply split International Whaling Commission. Despite a warning from Japan against raising the plan, Brazil, backed by anti-whaling nations including Australia, wants to bring it on in Santiago this week to bolster defences against any revival of commercial whaling. At the same time the US chairman of the IWC, Bill Hogarth, is deep in talks with many member countries on attempts to negotiate an overall settlement package for the organisation. Dr Hogarth has called a series of talks to try to break a deadlock between the pro and anti-whaling forces that evenly divide the 80-nation IWC.
See; http://www.theage.com.au/world/south-atlantic-whale-sanctuary-new-test-for-iwc-20080622-2uy3.html
Blues sing lower and deeper
June 23, 2008; http://www.theage.com.au/world/blues-sing-lower-and-deeper-20080622-2uy6.html
The haunting song of the blue whale is getting deeper, underwater recordings of the endangered mammals have revealed. They show the tone of their rhythmic pulses and moans has lowered as the population recovers from whaling. Professor John Hildebrand, a blue whale expert at the University of California, has used recordings of blue whales since the 1960s to track the changes in their songs. He found that in 1962 the calls were at a frequency of about 22 hertz, well below the range of human hearing, but last year had decreased to about 15 hertz. “It takes a conscious decision to make the calls deeper,” he said. “These animals have a finite lung capacity … They can either make the song really loud or really deep. As their numbers have slowly increased after the devastation caused by whaling, they are having to communicate over smaller distances so their songs don’t need to be as loud.”
Whaling by numbers
23/6/08; http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/whaling-by-numbers/2008/06/22/1214073053847.html
Any country can join the International Whaling Commission, an advantage first recognised by early environmentalists when they built a coalition that won the global moratorium on commercial whaling. Stung by the result, Japan became the first sovereign government to try the tactic. First, it turned around enough countries that had supported the moratorium to ensure it held a blocking vote against any more conservation moves. Then, working on nations in the Caribbean, the Pacific, West Africa and South-East Asia, Japanese whaling interests picked countries as their acolytes in exchange for money. This came in at least two forms: as government development aid, and in direct cash “assistance” to attend commission meetings and vote down the anti-whaling line. It won a single-vote majority in 2006, but anti-whaling nations responded with their own campaign and last year gained the balance that they are likely to keep this year.
Troubled waters ahead
Michelle Grattan; 22/6/08
Just when Kevin Rudd has smoothed the waters with Japan, another stoush over whales looms. The International Whaling Commission meeting in Santiago, Chile this week will be a test of strength, highlighting the stark differences between the two countries. Australia will argue that the commission should become an organisation dedicated to conservation. Japan’s view is that whales are a resource, and whaling should be a legitimate commercial industry; it classes the current moratorium, imposed in the 1980s, as an interregnum. Japan wants the commission - to be a manager of a resource rather than of a ban. The meeting will test Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who has had a difficult start in his portfolio. Since missing out on getting the core climate change area- Garrett has struggled with issues, from plastic bags to the solar panel rebate.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/troubled-waters-ahead/2008/06/21/1214009160151.html
Tags: Australia, Japan, Pacific, Whaling Commission