WIREDGOV

Panama City – South Korea recently announced plans to kill endangered whales under a loophole in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) treaty that allows for so-called “scientific whaling”. The proposal was met with fierce opposition from numerous IWC member governments that called the hunt unnecessary given the availability of modern non-lethal research techniques.

Many governments countered South Korea’s claims that lethal whaling is needed to determine how to manage stocks. Australia went so far as to invite South Korean scientists for a visit to discuss how non-lethal techniques can help fill data gaps. 

“The resumption of whaling by South Korea after a quarter of a century would be a huge step back for the IWC,” said Heather Sohl of WWF-UK. “Korea already sells meat from whales caught in fishing gear, and we believe this move is a thinly veiled attempt by Korea to conduct commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research, similar to hunts conducted by Japan in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary.”

The minke whales that would be taken in South Korea’s proposed hunt are considered endangered by the IWC Scientific Committee.

In its opening statement to the annual meeting of the commission, South Korea said its fishermen are pressuring the government to allow whaling. “They are experiencing disturbances in their fishing activities due to frequent occurrences of cetaceans in their fishing grounds and an increasing number of minke whales are eating away large amount of fish stocks,” the statement says.

The argument that increasing whale populations are behind declining fish stocks lacks any scientific foundation. Overfishing, not whales, is responsible for the degraded state of many of the world’s fish stocks.

Korea conducted a similar scientific hunt of minke whales in 1986, which was found by the IWC to yield no relevant scientific data. Not only was no new information of significant scientific value obtained, the IWC Scientific Committee found that “the take of 69 minke whales may have caused further reduction of this depleted stock, or at best inhibited its recovery,” according to its report.

“This type of senseless proposal derails the important work of the IWC on conservation issues of critical importance to whales, dolphins and porpoises,” Sohl said. “Conservation of threatened whale species is something all countries should be able to agree on.”

Notes to Editor:

Currently the IWC maintains a moratorium that prohibits all commercial whaling. However three countries have continued to conduct commercial whaling – Norway and Iceland do so as they have an objection/reservation to the moratorium. Japan does not, but continues to whale using a loophole in the ICRW that allows the killing of whales for “scientific research”. All of this whaling occurs outside the control of the IWC, with governments unilaterally setting their own quotas, and determining their own management controls. Japan is the only country to whale on the high seas, including in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary. Iceland’s fin whale hunt is particularly problematic, with quotas set way in excess of sustainable limits calculated by the IWC Scientific Committee.

Media inquiries can be directed to:
Alona Rivord, arivord@wwfint.org, +41 79 959 1963

Photos are available here: https://photos.panda.org/gpn/external?albumId=4265

WWF experts at IWC 64:
Heather Sohl, hsohl@wwf.org.uk, +44 79 2021 1531
Wendy Elliott, welliott@wwfint.org, +41 79 347 7811
Leigh Henry, leigh.henry@wwfus.org, +1 202 352 0883

Aimee Leslie, aleslie@wwfint.org, +507 6500 1006 or +41 79 800 9725 (Spanish)
Mamadou Diallo, mdiallo@wwfsenegal.org (French)

About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

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