IFAW was pleased to contribute to a unique project just published by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) about a memoir written by a now deceased Russian scientist documenting the Soviet Union's whaling activities from roughly the period of 1950-1980 is available from the NMFS site.

The memoir, written by A.A. Berzin is described by the author in the following preface:

I have always condemned (and to do anything more was not within our power or abilities) the illegal and sometimes destructive whaling by the Soviet Union. This opinion was expressed in numerous documents, including reports and records of presentations at scientific and other meetings; these documents are the witnesses to this condemnation. However, none of these documents ever saw the light of day: all of them were marked with the sinister stamp “secret.” When necessary in this memoir, my opinion of the whaling will be supported by data drawn from these documents.

An encouraging article on Australia's Sydney Morning Herald today quotes Tomohiko Taniguchi, previously spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo.

"Of the hundreds of matters he dealt with, the one he dreaded most was defending Japan's whaling program...'I hated this issue because there's no point in Japan sticking to its position,' he tells the Herald."

The Japanese whaling industry is neglibible in contributing to their economy, the number of people who derive their living from whaling is a tiny fraction in a country of 130 million. With a worsening economy the subsidies and concessions provided to the whaling industry will become harder to justify especially when compared to the damage done to international relationships.

Do we dare hope that we are looking at the last days of whaling by Japan?

I just wanted to update you on an historic moment in Pacific whale protection last week.

On Friday 3rd October, HRH Princess Salote Mafile'o Pilolevu Tuita was declared the Royal Patron for Whales in the Kingdom of Tonga in an event hosted by IFAW, the Tongan Visitors Bureau, the Vava'u Tourism Association and the Tonga Whale Watching Operators Association.

This heralds a new era for whale conservation in Tonga and, more broadly, the Pacific Islands region. As a little background, the previous King of Tonga (King Tupou IV) was a strong supporter of whale conservation and banned whaling in 1978 – as a result of his foresight the whale population is slowly recovering. Now the torch has been passed from father to daughter.

During her speech Princess Pilolevu made some very important announcements; that a fund is being established to support whale research and conservation in Tonga and that she would request the Government of Tonga declare Tonga a whale sanctuary, join the Convention on Migratory Species and ensure that whale watching guidelines are legislated and monitored.

Given the role and status of the Royal Family in Tonga, we hope these commitments will become a reality.

Regards

Erica Martin

Director IFAW Asia-Pacific

On Friday 3rd October Her Royal Highness Princess Salote Mafile’o Pilolevu Tuita will be officially declared the Royal Patron of Whales in the Kingdom of Tonga.

In an event hosted by IFAW, the Tonga Visitors Bureau, Vava’u Tourism Association and the Tonga Whale Watching Operators Association, HRH Princess Pilolevu will accept the title in honour of her father, the late King Tupou IV, who banned all hunting of whales in Tonga in 1978.

Tonga has one of the fastest growing whale watch industries in the world and injects more than 2 million USD into the Tongan economy each year.

Read more on the website

Behind the Velvet Rope

Tradewinds Grand Islands Resort, St. Pete Beach, Florida  -- I've had some interesting experiences since signing on as director of IFAW's global whale program almost two years ago. 

I've sat in lots of meetings, strategy and planning sessions with IFAW colleagues, campaigners, scientists and government officials from around the world.  I've sat in countless press conferences and a myriad of media interviews.  I've led IFAW's delegation to International Whaling Commission (IWC) meetings in Anchorage, Alaska and Santiago, Chile.  I've dressed up in a (less than flattering) Elvis suit to impersonate The King at Graceland, crooning alternative lyrics to "Don't Be Cruel" during a (wacky!) visit by President Bush and the Japanese Prime Minister. 

I've sat inside a tiny Cessna plane for twelve days with my son Henry, taking IFAW's message of whale protection to new heights all the way across the United States.  And this June I sat next to IWC Chairman Dr. William Hogarth as we both testified before a Congressional subcommittee questioning the objectives of the Bush Administration on the whaling issue. 

All these experiences were unusual, but today's feels even more strange.   I find myself sitting in the lobby of a high-end Florida resort, watching delegates from 26 countries -- some of them true friends and allies in the battle to save the whales -- file in and out of a closed-door meeting on the future of the IWC and the whales it was established to protect. 

In this season of political polarization, it is rare to find a massive issue on which we all agree. But thar' she blows! From sea to shining sea and across the political spectrum, Americans love whales. Polls conducted over the past decade consistently show overwhelming majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents want these magnificent creatures protected for future generations. Voters of all persuasions and subgroups - from rural, conservative GOP-types, to urban, liberal Democrats - want our government to take action to end resurgent commercial whaling by Japan, Iceland and Norway. All the more stunning then to learn the latest bad idea from the Bush administration is to legitimize such predatory whaling in the 21st century. 

ST. PETERSBURG, FL, September 5, 2008 – The International Whaling Commission (IWC), which sets international whaling regulations, has scheduled a closed-door meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida, to consider lifting the ban on commercial whale hunting.

The commission, a global body of eighty-member nations, first adopted the whaling ban in 1982 to prevent dwindling whale populations from becoming extinct. Now, just as some studies indicate certain whale species may be showing initial signs of recovery, whaling countries are eager to consider returning to commercial whaling practices.

IWC chairman William T. Hogarth, who also serves as the Dean of the College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida, is directing the closed-door meeting of the IWC Small Working Group.

“These closed-door meetings pose a grave risk to the future of the IWC and the whales it was established to protect,” said Patrick R. Ramage, Global Whale Program Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). “Whales face more threats today than at any time in history and Americans from sea to shining sea want to see them protected. The last thing we need is a secret deal to re-open whaling. Dr. Hogarth should either open up the process for scrutiny, or simply cancel the meetings.”

Japanese whalers say crew members accused of stealing whale meat have been cleared of any crime.

Greenpeace said the seamen had been illegally selling large amounts of whale meat on their return to Japan from whaling in Antarctic waters.

Japanese police have been investigating the claims.

But the whaling company Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd and the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) on Friday said their own investigations had cleared the employees of wrongdoing.

It followed the release of two Japanese Greenpeace members who, it was claimed, were looking into the sale of whale meat but had themselves been charged with stealing the goods.

"The allegations were made by activists from the anti-whaling organisation, Greenpeace Japan, who themselves (allegedly) stole whale meat from the Aomori branch of Seino Transportation Ltd," Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd president Kazuo Yamamura said in a statement.

"The Greenpeace activists claimed that the meat they stole was `proof' of large-scale whale meat thefts.

"Kyodo Senpaku and the ICR have conducted a thorough investigation of the claims by Greenpeace and found that all of their allegations are false.

"The seafarers involved have been cleared of all claims made against them."

Mr Yamamura said his company reached the same conclusion as the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office, which found the whale meat was not stolen but given as a gift to crew members engaged in the processing line.

He said there was no truth to allegations of a widespread whale meat embezzlement ring.

Check out the article from The Age.

The case of the missing whale meat seems to have taken an odd turn lately. Greenpeace uncovered a significant operation where crew members of Japan’s whaling factory ship were smuggling cases of prime whale cuts off the vessel for personal use. Many fishermen to take home a few fillets after a long trip, in fact within the US the National Marine Fisheries Service even has a code to use on a commercial fishing vessel reporting form when fish is used for home consumption. This way the fish are still accounted for when calculating how much was caught. However in the case of Japan’s whaling we’re talking about blatant corruption not personal consumption. It’s yet another layer of deceit and dishonesty that’s systemic within a whaling industry that continuously operates in defiance of scientific advice, and in violation of international law.

Greenpeace uncovered this smuggling operation using a complex and well orchestrated undercover operation using crew members on board.

TOKYO (AFP) — Japan is ready to spare humpback whales from its Antarctic hunt for another year if international whaling talks make progress, a senior Japanese official said Wednesday.

After strong protests led by Australia, Japan last year dropped plans to start hunting humpback whales for the first time in four decades.

Japan is willing to work with the current chair of the International Whaling Commission by suspending its humpback hunt if there are signs of progress at the IWC, said Japan's chief whaling negotiator Joji Morishita.

"The final decision will be made at the last moment, I guess. But ... the IWC process is moving so I assume that the same situation will apply to the coming research season," he told a press conference.

The current chair of the IWC, William Hogarth of the United States, has reportedly urged Japan to spare the humpbacks for another year to avoid driving a wedge into an already divided commission.

The 80-nation IWC agreed at its annual meeting last week in Santiago to create a 24-nation working group to recommend solutions ahead of next year's meeting in Portugal's Madeira island.

It was unable to bridge the gap between anti-whaling countries such as Australia and pro-whaling nations, such as Japan, Iceland and Norway, in a long-standing dispute over commercial whaling.

But Morishita said the meeting was less tense than in past years.

"People are actually fed-up with the very acrimonious atmosphere at the IWC," he said.

Japan carries out the hunt using a loophole in a 1986 IWC moratorium on commercial whaling that allows it to kill some 1,000 whales a year for "lethal research". Only Norway and Iceland defy the moratorium outright.

Japan had planned to harpoon 50 humpback whales on its most recent Antarctic mission, the first time since the 1960s that Tokyo would have hunted the species, which are major attractions for Australian whale-watchers.

The fleet went ahead with a hunt of other whales during its five-month voyage but returned in April, having caught little more than half of the original target of about 950 whales, after harassment by environmentalists.

AFP