Page - May 6, 2010
Greenpeace opposes all commercial whaling and has done so since 1975 when we carried out a direct action at sea against Soviet whalers.
GREENPEACE opposes all commercial whaling and has done so since 1975 when we carried out a direct action at sea against Soviet whalers.
Since then we have carried out actions against whalers from Australia, Brazil, Iceland, Peru, Japan, Norway and Spain. Many of these countries now oppose whaling, only Iceland, Japan and Norway continue.
The history of whaling is a history of serial disasters - the depletion of one species after another. Wherever whaling has been practised it has devastated populations of whales.
After commercial whaling drove many whales to the brink of extinction, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) agreed a moratorium on all commercial whaling which took effect in 1986. But whales are still in danger as Iceland, Japan and Norway continue to flout the moratorium.
By taking advantage of IWC loopholes which allows member countries to hunt whales for ‘scientific’ purposes, or by filing objections to IWC decisions and so technically remaining unbound by them, Japan and Norway continue to hunt whales.
In 2010 there was a failed attempt to break the IWC deadlock between the pro whaling nations and the whale conservation countries. A proposal to legitimise commercial whaling and allow hunting in the Southern Ocean to continue was sidelined in favour of the status quo for another year.
Two activists are on trial in Japan for exposing corruption in the government funded whaling industry.
Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, are now awaiting a verdict after a lengthy trial in Japan. The prosecutor has asked for them to be sent to jail for18months following their exposure of corruption in Japan's whaling industry. Their case has been supported by Amnesty International, Nobel Laureates including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and celebrities like Bryan Adams and Benicio Del Torro. Known as the 'Tokyo Two', Junichi and Toru have been joined by over half a million voices from around the world since they were arrested 2 years ago. But now they need our help more than ever.