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2007 International Whaling Commission meeting

The 59th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) took place in Anchorage, 28-31 May 2007, following meetings of the IWC Scientific Committee, as well as sub-committees and working groups including:

Working Group on Whale Killing Methods and Associated Welfare Issues
Conservation Committee
Infractions Sub-committee
Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling Sub-committee
Budgetary Sub-committee
Finance and Administration Committee

Seventy three of the seventy seven member countries attended the plenary meeting. Australia and its pro-conservation allies managed to regain a simple majority, making it possible to successfully defeat proposals by pro-whaling nations which were designed to assist the reintroduction of commercial whaling.

The Commission passed resolutions condemning JARPA II, Japan's scientific whaling programme in the Antarctic; reaffirming its primacy on cetacean matters over other forums such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); and recognising the value of non-lethal uses of whale resources.

Japan's proposal to have 'small type coastal whaling' recognised by the IWC was unsuccessful. The IWC continues to recognise only three types of whaling - commercial, aboriginal subsistence and special permit (scientific), and there has been a moratorium on commercial whaling since 1985/86.

All aboriginal subsistence quotas were renewed. The most controversial renewals were those sought by Denmark on behalf of Greenland. Australia opposed the renewal of the Greenland quotas on the basis that the scientific case put forward for expanding the harvest and including new species (bowhead and humpback) was not strong. Denmark on behalf of Greenland reworked the proposal several times and it was eventually adopted by the necessary three-quarters majority.

While these were strong outcomes for Australia and other pro-conservation parties, the IWC remains at a stalemate on the fundamental issue of whether whales should be exploited. The 2007 Chair (Mr Bill Hogarth, USA) suggested holding an intersessional meeting to discuss the future of the IWC before the next annual meeting, IWC 60 in Chile, 2008.