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INTERNATIONAL efforts to conserve the world鈥檚 remaining whales are in crisis.
The International Whaling Commission, the body that has imposed a moratorium on
commercial whaling for the past 15 years, is paralysed by infighting and
mistrust between its member nations.

The 53rd meeting of the IWC opened last week with unprecedented hostility
between pro and anti-whaling nations and closed with many countries formally
stating their 鈥減rofound concern鈥� for the future of the organisation. Some
claimed that recent IWC votes were illegal. Others believe it is fast becoming a
lame duck.

The only point of agreement between the two sides is that the commission is
in a state of deadlock鈥攖he last significant change to IWC policy was
passed in 1994.

This year, the situation has exploded. 鈥淭here is total polarisation and lack
of trust between the two sides,鈥� one IWC assistant commissioner told New
Scientist. 鈥淭he IWC is a stagnant body.鈥� While all the commissioners remain
formally committed to the IWC, some now believe they will need to go elsewhere
to achieve their aims.

The biggest frustration for the anti-whaling body at the meeting was the
blocking, for the second year running, of a sanctuary to protect whales in the
South Pacific. Australia and New Zealand led the proposal, backed by the
majority of Pacific island nations.

But the proposal was rejected by pro-whalers, including Japan, Norway and six
Caribbean countries. The Caribbean nations have been accused of receiving
financial aid from Japan in return for backing its pro-whaling position. New
Zealand鈥檚 IWC assistant commissioner, Wilbur Dovey, says he is now unsure
whether to put forward the proposal for a third time. 鈥淲e鈥檒l have to think about
next year,鈥� he says. 鈥淛apan will probably continue its vote-buying
补肠迟颈惫颈迟颈别蝉.鈥�

Japan was open about why it rejected both the South Pacific sanctuary and
another proposed by Brazil for the South Atlantic Ocean. Whale sanctuaries would
close off vast areas of ocean, and their 鈥渟ustainable resources鈥�, the Japanese
delegation said. Japan has made it clear that it wants to overturn the 1986
international moratorium on commercial whaling.

Japan uses the relative abundance of minke whales to justify its push for a
return to a commercial hunt. But new surveys on Southern Ocean minke populations
presented by the IWC鈥檚 scientific committee this year suggest there may be only
268,000 minke whales in the Southern Ocean, down from a 1991 estimate of
760,000.

However, it was a vote tied to commercial hunting that triggered widespread
anger and unprecedented criticism of the IWC among pro-whalers. On the first day
of the meeting, Iceland鈥檚 application to rejoin the commission while reserving
the right to resume commercial whaling was rejected.

鈥淭he moratorium is a fundamental part of the IWC. You can鈥檛 pick and choose
the rules you want to abide with when you join an international association. It
would be anarchy,鈥� says Elliot Morley, Britain鈥檚 IWC assistant commissioner.

But Iceland鈥檚 IWC representative, Stefan Asmundsson, condemned the vote
itself as illegal. 鈥淚t is in breach of international law,鈥� he insisted. 鈥淲e
regard ourselves as full members of the IWC with full rights.鈥�

The vote triggered a wave of support for Iceland. 鈥淣ow that the IWC has
rejected Iceland鈥檚 legal right to membership, we must ask ourselves what, if
any, relevance the IWC has for our futures,鈥� says Japan鈥檚 IWC commissioner,
Minoru Morimoto.

Few believe the pro-whalers will leave the IWC, however. Japan needs the IWC,
for example, to achieve its aim of replacing the moratorium with set catch
quotas for every whale species, Dovey says.