The IWC fails to protect Humpbacks

June 25th

On the last day of its annual meeting the IWC has granted Greenland an annual quota of 9 Humpback whales for the next five years.

“We have failed the Humpbacks,” said Mick McIntyre reporting from the meeting in Agadir, Morocco. “This should never have been allowed to happen,” he said

“Humpback whales are an iconic species and we needed to do more to protect them,” he said

Greenland has an existing Aboriginal whaling quota of Fin whales, Bowhead whales and Minke whales and had requested to add Humpbacks to their annual hunt.

This request has been widely criticised as various reports have shown it does not meet the requirements set out by the IWC for Aboriginal subsistence hunting,

A recent NGO report outlined the commerciality of the hunt by tracking the whale meat through supermarkets in Greenland.

Under IWC rules whale meat caught under Aboriginal Subsistence quota can only be for local consumption

“It’s become clear this is a commercial hunt,” said McIntyre, After all their great work earlier in the meeting to defeat the chair’s compromise whaling package, the IWC needed to do more to save these Humpbacks.” He said

‘This sets a terrible precedent for the IWC’ he said

This is the first time since the commercial moratorium that the IWC has authorised the killing of Humpback whales.

The meeting concludes today,

www.whalesalive.org.au