The History of the International Whaling Commission
Hannah Hayward
1931: First Convention
• Geneva: , “The presentation convention applies only to baleens or whalebone whales.”
• “The taking or killing of right whales, which is deemed to include North Cape whales, Greenland Whales, southern right whales, Pacific right whales, and southern pigmy right whales, is prohibited...The taking or killing of calves or suckling whales, immature whales and female whales which are accompanied by calves (or suckling whales) is prohibited.”
1938: The Protocol
• London: “...it is forbidden for any factory ship or whale catcher attached thereto for the purpose of catching or treating humpback whales in any waters south of 40° south latitude.”
• “...it is forbidden for any factory ship or whale catcher attached thereto for the purpose of catching or treating baleen whales in the waters south of 40° south latitude from 70° west longitude westwards as far as 160° west longitude.”
1946: The International Convention
• Washington: “Considering that the history of whaling has seen overfishing of one area after another area and of one species after another to such a degree that it is essential to protect all whale species from overfishing.”
• “Recognizing that in the course of achieving these objectives, whaling operations should be confined to those species best able to sustain exploitation in order to give interval for recovery in certain species of whales depleted in numbers.”
Signing the document: December 2nd 1946
The International Whaling Commission
“These measures, among other things, provide for the complete protection of certain species; designate specified areas as whale sanctuaries; set limits on the numbers and size of whales which may be taken; prescribe open and closed seasons and areas for whaling; and prohibit the capture of suckling calves and female whales accompanied by calves. The compilation of catch reports and other statistical and biological records is also required.”
• “the Commission encourages, co-ordinates and funds whale research, publishes the results of scientific research and promotes studies into related matters such as the humaneness of the killing operations.”
IWC Challenges
• “Cetologists are more conversationist, stressing the need to maintain whale populations at levels that ensure reproduction over the long term, while industry managers are more comsumptionist, giving greater weight to the immediate economic return from taking whales.”
• “Whaling ships now travel much farther for their catch and kill much smaller and younger whales.”
Accomplisments
• In 1977, “the IWC banned the import of whale products from any nonIWC nation and reduced the whale kill quotas by more than 36%.” In 1982, the Indian Ocean was officially made a whale sanctuary and remains one today. Ibid., 106
• “Japanese scientists have been intensely criticised for their research, which claims that whales need to be culled in order to preserve fishing stocks and that whales are taking food from the mouths of millions of people.”
• The IWC may have its challenges, like most environmental organizations, but they still, undoubtedly, give these creatures a voice, which others seem to ignore.
Bibliography• "The Commission." International Whaling Commission. 11 Nov. 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.iwcoffice.org/commission/iwcmain.htm>. • "Convention for the Regulation of Whaling." The American Journal of International Law 30.4 (1936): 167-
74. JSTOR. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/stable/2213438>. • "International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling." The American Journal of International Law
43.4 (1949): 174-85. JSTOR. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/stable/2213993>.
• "IWC." UNEP Regional Seas. United Nations Environment Programme, 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.unep.ch/regionalseas/legal/iwc.htm>.
• Mandel, Robert. "Transnational Resource Conflict." International Studies Quarterly 24.1 (1980): 99-127. JSTOR. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/stable/2600130>.
• McGirk, James B. "Between the Lines: the Whaling Commission Flounders." Foreign Policy 132 (2002): 66-67. JSTOR. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/stable/3183457?seq=2>.
• Peterson, M. J. "Whalers, Cetologists, Environmentalists, and the International Management of Whaling." International Organization 41.1 (1992): 147-86. JSTOR. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/stable/2706954>.
• "Protocol on Regulation of Whaling." The American Journal of International Law 34.2 (1949): 115-25.JSTOR. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/stable/2213604>.
Photographs• http://iwcoffice.org/commission/convention.htm
http://iwcoffice.org/index.htm • http://www.zmescience.com/ecology/climate/whales-suffer-sun-
burn-marine-biology-12112010/ • http://www.travel-vancouver-island.com/northern-resident-killer-
whales-vancouver-island-154-pictures.htm • http://www.utc.edu/Faculty/Deborah-McAllister/imax/whales.htm • http://www.topnews.in/babysitting-whales-look-after-calves-
while-mums-go-snacking-2173180 • http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2008/protect-
endangered-right-whales.html • http://www.awakeninginparadise.com/
