A GLIMPSE OF WHALING ISSUE THROUGH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

(from "ISANA" No. 12, 1995)

Takeaki Hori
 International Issues Analyst


A Round-Table Discussion "Sustainable Use of Wildlife and International Regime" was held at Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, a town noted for its traditional ancient whaling. As the title suggests, the discussion theme was not easy for a layman such as me to present in written form. But this must be a subject of great interest even for environmental groups who are devoted to conservation of wildlife. The symposium was organized by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) as part of a series of seminars to consider the issue of conservation and utilization of marine living resources, mainly cetaceans, from various aspects as economy, international law and cultural anthropology. The symposium had a great importance for those who are interested in the whaling issue as it was intended to finalize discussions in previous meetings.

Panelists were Monica Borobia, coordinator for the Marine Mammal Action Plan for the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP); R.J. Smith, chief researcher on environment of Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute which supports the principle of sustainable utilization and active in publicity and research activities; Ambassador Gudmundur Eiriksson, an expert in international law and former minister in charge of whaling issue of Iceland; Dan Goodman of Canada, who is now a visiting professor of Hokkaido University. I was elected as chairman probably because of my neutral position as a non-expert. It was a somewhat a surprise for me to find so many people who are taken so deeply in the issue of whales and whaling. The debate often heated up because the issue was linked with global and contemporary issues as future survival of mankind, the national sovereignty and hegemony.

Looking over the agenda, it was obvious that all the issues could not be covered adequately in the span of a day or two. There are complicated issues involved such as definition of sustainable utilization from the viewpoint of an international order; whether the International Whaling Commission still has a status of international convention; to what extent the views of the non-English-speaking Third World can be incorporated when the official language of the IWC is English; to what extent people in advanced Western people can understand the value of traditional whaling which constitutes a culture proper to indigenous people; and how one should cope with the hegemonistic approach of the United States which gives priority to its domestic laws and threatens other states with possible retaliation when they deny to comply with the U.S. domestic legislations. If we pursue these issues to their essence, we are faced with the need to cope not only with marine mammals (as represented by whales) but regulations of ozone and carbon dioxide on the same level. Therefore, within a limited time available, we had to confine our discussion on IWC-related issues, without knowing whether that was what the organizer really wished for or not.

Far-fetching and in-depth exchange of view was made mainly because the whole sessions were carried out in English without the help of interpreters from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. What follows are some of the salient points having universal characteristics.

1. The IWC which has a long tradition of conserving whales and regulating whaling has now been turned into a forum of propaganda of international fund-raising environmental organizations. Further, about 10 key personalities and nations enjoy an absolute support of the United States in the Commission. Under these circumstances, there seems to be no prospect of a new turn of events in the IWC.

2. If Japan decides to withdraw from the IWC as did Iceland, it will be exposed to possible retaliation by the Western states, notably the United States. There is no other way for Japan than to continue its utmost effort within the framework of the IWC because the social cost Japan might suffer as a result of its withdrawal from the IWC might be even greater than when it remains as member. In other words, there is a danger of possible economic sanction by the United States to boycott Japanese products.

3. There is a need to recognize the danger of the issue of whale being discussed as resources of the earth by land-locked nations which has no expertise on whales and highly migratory fish species. The importance was stressed for the range states of marine living to come together and grasp every opportunity to appeal that regional management arrangements is a more constructive approach to resource conservation.

Quite unexpectedly, a majority of the panelists stressed that, if the Government of Japan continues to take an opportunistic attitude towards specific environmental issues, it will cause disappointment among developing countries and, in the longer term, lose the credibility of the international community. The cost of such consequences will weigh more heavily on the future of Japan.

In order to understand this point raised by the participants, it is necessary to review the past development leading to the introduction of the 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) by coastal states which have marine living resources in their waters. One of the factors of the establishment of the EEZ system was the wide-spread suspicion that fishery resources on the high seas have been virtually monopolized, over-exploited by a handful of fish-cunsuming states for many years. In the background, one can point to the criticisms leveled against Japan for its advance in oceans of the world and continued surplus trade in industrial goods. The allegation that a handful of nations are monopolizing high-seas fishery resources which are common property of the earth may present various problems, but now that such a perception has become the major current of opinion, Japan has no way than to comply with it. The process of turning the property of some states or regions into common property of the world came to be emphasized with the deterioration of global environment. The first such constraint was found in conservation of dolphins and whales. It was, therefore just natural for environmental organizations to find their place of activities there.

Under these circumstances, the countries with vested interests have either to abandon or scale down their rights. Here are dilemma and dissatisfaction of the countries having fishery resources in their waters. In a bid to overcome such stringent situation, Iceland withdrew its membership of the IWC and Norway decided on the resumption of commercial whaling. After taking these decisive action, the minority group got united to clarify their identity. This move was embodied in the establishment of the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO). This was a return to the concept that management by coastal states having adequate knowledge of the ecology and status of the resources is most suited for conservation of the resources, in other words, management by regional arrangement. The establishment of NAMMCO shocked anti-whaling groups and invited angry reactions from the United States, which resulted in all form of pressures on Norway. Thus NAMMCO finds itself in troubled water from the outset because of the lack of concerted actions among members.

Japan is powerless in this regard because high-ranking government officials adhere to the policy of following in every footstep of the United States. Further, there is a consensus among the Japanese government and industry leaders that there is no way for Japan than to survive in the international society except as a trading nation.

While Japan advocates multilateralism - the principle of dealing with every nation on an equal footing, the United States, by clear contrast, has a deep trust in unilateralism. Superficially, Japan appears to take a policy that Japan and the United States constitute two of the major poles in the world politics. But there is a total lack of perception on the part of Japan to value its autonomy, and, in the end, Japan may choose to succumb to what the U.S. calls "justice". Finding a breakthrough out of this impasse is a serious issue now confronting the Japanese people.

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