In his talk at the Headquarters of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Dr Sidney Holt, long time scientific adviser to the International Whaling Commission, gave two clear messages. In the sixty years of the IWC’s existence, no one has been able to come up with a humane way to kill whales. And commercial whaling has been, and continues to be, a very profitable business.
The History of Dr Sidney Holt’s Involvement in the Whaling Question
Dr Holt first became involved with the whaling industry in 1960, when he, a fisheries biologist, was part of a team tasked with advising the International Whaling Commission on reducing Antarctic whale catches to sustainable levels. He was also involved in initiating the moratorium on commercial whaling in the 1970s.
Since retiring from his job with the United Nations Sidney Holt has worked closely with several governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on controlling and possibly ending commercial whaling. Over the course of his career he has attended 50 annual meetings of the IWC and continues his efforts to educate the public on whaling issues.
Cruelty of Whaling an Important Reason to Ban the Killing
Dr Holt reviewed the history of the attempts to make whaling more humane. None of the various methods tried to date have reduced the suffering of the whales caught in this industry. It is still common for whales to remain alive for up to half an hour after initial harpooning, often suspended from the side of the factory whaling vessels.
Ironically, the cruelty issue was raised in the 1950s, yet since that time commercial whaling has actually become more inhumane. According to Dr. Holt, this alone should be the reason to end whaling.
Whaling Moratorium Challenged as Populations Recover
The moratorium on commercial whaling, which was not endorsed by Japan, Iceland and Norway who continued to kill whales, is now being seriously challenged. When the moratorium was first imposed some groups were hopeful that it would be a first step toward ending whaling.
However, those countries with a history of making money from the whaling industry have always maintained that once whale populations recovered they would expect to go back to business as usual. One commercially hunted whale species, the humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), has begun to recover and the push is on to resume commercial whaling. But whales continue to face other threats.
Critical Commercial Whaling Business Decisions will be Made Soon
The other important point made by Sidney Holt during his talk at IFAW, is that whaling is, and always has been, a business. More importantly, it has been a ruthless and very profitable business. Holt says that whaling nations are eager to resume commercial whaling because there is still money in it and in a few years there will be much, much more.
Japan presently is at the point of needing a new factory ship, which could cost up to 100 million USD. If Japan makes that purchase they will then need to continue whaling for another 20 to 40 years to get a full return on the investment.
Thus it is a critical time for anti-whaling groups to push for a permanent end to commercial whaling. Failure to do so is likely to result in a resurgence of the industry for many years to come.
Dawn M. Smith - A vet nurse, Dawn has worked in wildlife rehabilitation and conservation around the world in addition to her veterinary hospital ...
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