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Time to stop the slaughter

More than a year after it failed to get the moratorium on commercial whaling lifted at the International Whaling Commission summit, Japan has launched the second phase of its `research' programme in the Antarctic with the avowed objective of killing 935 minke whales, 50 fin whales, and 50 humpback whales annually. The international community is convinced that such slaughter of large cetaceans has contributed little to the available knowledge on these animals and is almost entirely devoted to feeding the meat industry. Conservationists are anguished at the decimation of whale populations caused by the programme. At its meeting at Ulsan in South Korea last year, the 66-member IWC strongly urged Japan, through a resolution, to withdraw its proposal for JARPA II, its augmented Antarctic whaling programme, and suggested non-lethal research. The recalcitrant member has apparently decided to ignore the appeal and the international outcry evoked by its insensitive action. It seems to matter little to the proponents of whaling that a recent survey of the region places the population of minke whales at a level substantially lower than that estimated by earlier studies, and suggests that humpback whales targeted by the Japanese plan belong to small, vulnerable breeding populations.

The efforts of the IWC to regulate whaling rely on the readiness of member states to heed its collective wisdom and adhere to decisions taken by vote. Some countries, notably Norway, Iceland, and Japan, either ignore the 19-year old moratorium on commercial hunting or exploit an exceptional provision that allows scientific permits to be issued for lethal research on whales. The IWC and its decisions lack legal teeth and it is a sad reality that many governments are unwilling, because of commercial lobbying, to strengthen protection of these magnificent creatures. It is heartening that determined environmental activists, notably Greenpeace, undertake high-profile campaigns to draw attention to the plight of the whales that are hunted even in protected areas. The recent minke whale hunt in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary around Antarctica is a scandalous example. Agencies like the International Fund for Animal Welfare think Japan and other violators must be called to account for misusing the research clause of the IWC, under the terms of the Commission for the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. As an IWC member, India has a proud history of opposition to whaling. As Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi sent a clear and strong message to the Indian delegation to the IWC: he favoured continuation of the national policy against whaling despite pressure from Japan; while some may have a problem with India actively favouring conservation, he wrote, "the whales have even a greater problem." It is an inspiring message relevant to all of India's threatened biodiversity.

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