(from "Chairman's Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Meeting")

During the Workshop, Prof. M. Freeman reviewed the Japanese small-type whaling operations which use boats (15-49 tons) with a crew of 5-7, catch whales about 20 miles offshore and return to port each night. Seven out of nine boats are family-owned. Before the moratorium, each boat took 35-40 minke whales and around a dozen small cetaceans (pilot and beaked whales) each year. Since the moratorium, only about half the boats have been operating. They share a total of 100 pilot whales and 54 beaked whales each season. However, the nine small-type whaling licences issued around 1960 are still in existence.

Minke whales are important in the food culture of Abashiri and its surroundings and in Ayukawa, whilst pilot whales and beaked whales are important in Taiji and Wada, respectively. Whaling in these four small-type whaling towns supports a number of Buddhist and Shinto religious rituals and ceremonies as well as secular festivals. The financial contribution that whaling makes to the local fisheries cooperative association is extremely important, as this association serves as the principal financial and fishery administrative body for fishermen in these coastal communities.

Community-wide whale meat sharing practices have important social, economic and cultural significance; such sharing occurs at various times during the year, but more especially during the six-month-long whaling season and at year end. Whale meat is also used for payments-in-kind made by boat owners to crew members and flensers; boat owners also provide gifts of whale meat to temples, shrines, schools, the hospital, the old people's home and various community groups. Local tourism also benefits from the availability of a distinctive whale-based cuisine.

There was a wide-ranging discussion of these issues, and consensus was reached on the following points:

(i)

all delegations recognised that there was cultural value in whaling for small-type coastal whaling (STCW) communities;

(ii)

there has been economic distress as a result of the moratorium on commercial whaling;

(iii)

the Workshop was aware that there was ongoing STCW for species other than minke whales, and that there was some minke whale meat from whaling under Scientific Permits available in STCW towns;

(iv)

the Workshop recognised that for the communities concerned other species are not a complete substitute for minke whales, especially in the towns of Ayukawa and Abashiri where minke whaling was predominant;

(v)

STCW has commercial elements, and has had for hundreds of years;

(vi)

there was disagreement as to whether or not the cultural aspects of STCW are sufficient grounds for an exemption to the zero catch limits for commercial whaling set by Schedule paragraph 10(e); and

(vii)

there is a need for cultural sensitivity in approaching this issue.

The Revised Action Plan put forward by Japan was reviewed in considerable detail and there was considerable discussion on whether it was possible or desirable to remove all the commercial elements. The Chairman summarised the discussion on this agenda item as follows:

(i)

the Action Plan is a good faith effort to be responsive to questions by IWC member countries about commercial elements in STCW;

(ii)

some commercial elements remain in the Action Plan, such as the sale of whale meat in traditional guest houses and inns, and these commercial elements are important to the STCW communities for cultural as well as economic reasons;

(iii)

some delegations believe that removing all commercial elements from the Action Plan might make it unacceptable to whalers, both for economic and cultural reasons;

(iv)

questions had been raised as to whether the Action Plan, as a government-imposed distribution system, could fulfil the cultural need for whalers or whether implementing it would disrupt the cultural relationships it was trying to preserve.

In addition, the Chairman noted that a suggestion had been made that Japan consider withdrawing the Action Plan. He said that some participants had urged members to resolve the problem of STCW by granting an interim relief quota, while other delegations had expressed the view that a Resolution had to be achieved in a broader context and would depend on the completion of the Commission's Revised Management Scheme (RMS). In addition, some delegations had opined that the approach for STCW should not be stricter than for aboriginal subsistence whaling.

A number of delegations stated their national positions on the question of small-type commercial whaling and after considerable discussion, the Workshop recognised that:

(1)

small-type coastal whaling in Japan has both cultural and socio-economic aspects

(2)

attempting to remove commercial aspects through government intervention may, by revising some of the distributional pathways, destroy cultural and traditional elements, and therefore may be undesirable. There was a division of views over whether the cultural and religious aspects weigh more heavily than the commercial element.

As a result of these discussions, the Workshop:

(1)

drew the attention of the Commission to the 1993 Resolution on Japanese community-based minke whaling (Rep. int. Whal. Commn 44:31, appendix 3), in particular the commitment to work expeditiously to alleviate the distress to the small-type coastal whaling communities which has resulted from the cessation of minke whaling;

(2)

recommended an expeditious completion of the RMS in accordance with Resolutions adopted by the IWC on the subject;

(3)

recommended that Japan should take account of relevant comments made at the Workshop if it decides to submit a further revision of the Revised Action Plan (IWC/47/46) at the 49th IWC Annual Meeting.

Japan had also proposed the following recommendation:

The Workshop recommends IWC to make every realistic effort to solve the distress incurred in the community-based whaling communities (with respect to the proposal of interim relief allocation of 50 minke whales).

Since this proposal was not accepted by some members, although it was considered acceptable by others, St Lucia attempted to achieve consensus by proposing an amendment to the Japanese proposal for the recommendation:

Considering that the basis for this Workshop was to review and identify issues and problems associated with the cessation of minke whaling, this Workshop recommends that the IWC makes every effort to resolve the issue (taking into account the proposal of Japan for an interim relief allocation).

Some delegations supported the proposed recommendation indicating that it best reflected the terms of reference of the Workshop and the need for the Commission to act expeditiously to alleviate the distress of the four community-based whaling communities. Other delegations opposed the proposed recommendation, citing, inter alia, their preference to resolve the issue through the completion of the RMS. Other formulations of the proposed recommendation were examined in the spirit of trying to reach a consensus but these did not satisfy the concerns raised by some delegations.

Technical Committee discussion
In the Technical Committee, Japan emphasised the extensive documentation on this subject; over fifty papers prepared by international scholars over the last ten years. It had developed its Action Plan because its request for an interim relief allocation had been denied. The Commission had adopted Resolutions recognising the need of the four coastal communities affected and Japan had attempted to modify the Action Plan to meet the various concerns expressed. It stressed that some of the government representatives at the Sendai Workshop showed no inclination to contribute to any solution that might bring about an improvement in the Action Plan. Delegates at the Workshop heard a clear and strong expression of the suffering and distress of the people of Ayukawa and Taiji. Many of the Government representatives seemed to have, and manifested, no intention of considering means for alleviating this suffering and distress as resolved in the IWC 45th Meeting Resolution (Rep. int. Whal. Commn 44:31, appendix 3). It thought that there was a lack of good will in the Commission which put the Commission's credibility at stake. It would put forward Resolutions and a Schedule Amendment to the Plenary session.

In the ensuing discussion, many delegations expressed sympathy for the communities concerned. Some noted that commercial elements still existed in the Action Plan which in their view meant that action had to be taken on completion of the RMS, since the whaling operations were neither aboriginal subsistence nor under Special Permit for research. Other delegations supported the Japanese position and the Chairman concluded that there was no consensus within the Technical Committee. The Technical Committee therefore noted the Report of the Sendai meeting and the various comments made, and referred the matter to the Plenary.

5.2 Japanese proposal for a Schedule amendment
Japan asked that a take of 50 minke whales from the Okhotsk Sea-West Pacific stock of the North Pacific be permitted in 1998 to alleviate the hardship in the community-based whaling communities. It pointed out that this is the tenth year that it has made this request. Sperm whales have been caught in Indonesia (outside the IWC) and sold for cash; Japan's own coastal whaling is similar, and it would be unfair if its request is rejected. Mr Abe, the Chairman of the Japan Small-Type Whaling Association, commented that the distress caused to the communities is well documented and these small communities with limited means are similar to those engaged in aboriginal subsistence whaling.

South Africa expressed appreciation of the efforts made by Japan and the difficult decisions Japan had taken to reduce the commercial elements but it still opposed the proposal because of the moratorium. Japan thought further delay in resolving the problem was unjustified, tantamount to cultural imperialism, since there is no conservation difficulty. Sweden was unable to support the proposal but looked to ideas from Ireland to end this embarrassing matter. Germany took the same position. The USA saw differences between STCW and aboriginal subsistence whaling and urged completion of the RMS. Switzerland held similar views. Spain and the Netherlands were also opposed. The Republic of Korea thought this whaling could be permitted after the RMS was adopted. Monaco could not accept a breach in the moratorium but suggested the proposal be recast as aboriginal subsistence with the commercial elements confined to the four communities, a format which has already been accepted for other proposals. Mexico looked for completion of the RMS and saw inconsistencies in the way minke, gray and fin whale catches were treated.

The Russian Federation supported Japan in principle because of the non-commercial use. Grenada, Solomon Islands, St Vincent and The Grenadines, the People's Republic of China, St Lucia and Dominica also expressed support. Antigua and Barbuda supported use which did not threaten the resource and allowed flexibility to the fishermen who have limited social and economic opportunities.

Brazil commented that it had phased out its coastal whaling in a poor area after the 1986 moratorium and there was now a flourishing of whalewatching. A breach in quotas now could lead to re-establishment of many coastal whaling operations. Chile commented that it too had suffered hardship.

The UK saw the moratorium as the key issue, not commerciality. It noted that Japan had agreed to the moratorium so it was not cultural imperialism. Australia took a similar position, as did New Zealand, who thought the Commission should resist holding out hope while the moratorium is in place. France shared these views.

Ireland was not prepared to set aside the moratorium and would abstain.

5.3 Action arising
Japan pointed out that the RMP had been completed and thought the 50 whales could be taken with supervision and control under bilateral arrangements according to the RMS. There was no understanding of the distress and frustration caused over 10 years and it called for a vote on its proposed Schedule amendment and an accompanying Resolution which would apply the Action Plan to the distribution and consumption of the products.

This proposal received 12 votes in favour, 16 against, with 4 abstentions and so was not adopted.

Japan noted there would be no further discussion of the Resolution and spoke of its gratitude for the sympathy expressed.

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