Continued from page 1In June 1986, the U.S. Department of Commerce certified that Norway was diminishing the effectiveness of the IWC's conservation regime. This opened the door for the President to impose trade sanctions against Norway under the Pelly Amendment to the Fishermen's Protective Act (22 U.S.C. 1978). Norway announced in July 1986 that it would suspend commercial whaling after the 1987 season and reduce the 1987 catch to less than the 1986 take of 400 minke whales. (See Endnote 8.) Based on this announcement, President Reagan decided not to impose trade sanctions.
Norway suspended commercial whaling in 1987. However, after the IWC's Scientific Committee in 1992 accepted 86,700 animals as the best estimate of the northeast Atlantic minke whale population, Norway resumed commercial whaling in 1993. (See Endnote 9.) When it did so, Norway encountered sharp criticism from several other countries, particularly the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United States.
On August 5, 1993, the U.S. Department of Commerce again certified, pursuant to the Pelly Amendment, that Norway's unilateral resumption of whaling undermined the effectiveness of the IWC's international conservation regime. In a letter to Congress, President Clinton stated that, while "[t]he United States is deeply opposed to commercial whaling," it "has an equally strong commitment to science-based solutions to global conservation problems," and that "not every country agrees with our position against commercial whaling." The letter concluded that, while U.S. trade restrictions would be justified, "our objectives can best be achieved by delaying the implementation of sanctions until we have exhausted all good faith efforts to persuade Norway to follow agreed conservation measures." Notwithstanding this Executive Branch decision, both the House and the Senate agreed to H.Con.Res. 34 (103rd Congress) condemning commercial whaling.
After Norway announced in 1993 that it would resume commercial whaling, at least three conservation organizations asked consumers not to buy Norwegian products; these groups estimate the boycotts cost Norwegian companies between $30 million and $40 million in lost sales. (See Endnote 10.) However, others estimated that the losses from the boycotts totaled less than $5 million. Anti-whaling groups also threatened to boycott the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway, although this threat was not carried out. These boycotts and threats may actually have been more significant in strengthening a nationalist resolve of the Norwegians to continue whaling.
At its 1994 annual meeting, the IWC accepted in principle, but did not formally adopt, a Revised Management Procedure (RMP) recommended by its Scientific Committee as a scientifically based method for determining commercial whaling kill levels that would have a low probability of adversely affecting whale stocks. The RMP would be part of a broader Revised Management Scheme (RMS) that the United States and others believe should include an international system of observation, inspection, and enforcement. The IWC also endorsed its Scientific Committee's initial guidelines on how to conduct abundance surveys and analyze their results.
Early in 1995, Norwegian scientists raised concerns over the validity of their 1992 northeast Atlantic minke whale population estimate, which had been based on Norwegian data. After researchers discovered computer errors in the calculation of the 1992 population estimate, the Norwegians unilaterally reduced the abundance estimate from 86,700 to 69,600 animals, and lowered their 1995 minke commercial hunt quota from 301 to 232. Even though the IWC's Scientific Committee would not have a chance to review Norway's new population estimate until after the Norwegian season began, Norway chose not to postpone its 1995 season. When the IWC's Scientific Committee did meet in 1995, it did not endorse Norway's new estimate of 69,600 but only confirmed that the earlier estimate (86,700) was no longer valid. It subsequently scheduled workshops and an intersessional Committee meeting for early in 1996 to determine the acceptability of a new abundance estimate, to be based on summer 1995 survey data. An acceptable new abundance estimate, it was believed, would allow the RMP to be used to calculate a quota for Norway's scheduled 1996 commercial hunt.
In early May, 1996, Norway reported a new abundance estimate of 118,000 minke whales in the northeast and central Atlantic based on data from a summer 1995 survey using improved census methods, (See Endnote 11.) and announced that it had revised the commercial quota to 425 minke whales for the 1996 season. Shortly thereafter (on May 16), 23 Members of Congress sent President Clinton a letter objecting to Norway's continued whaling.
One month later, the IWC's Scientific Committee approved the new abundance estimate, reviewed by a special Abundance Estimate Working Group (AEWG, (See Endnote 12.) comprised of 2 scientists from Norway and 5 from non-whaling nations) as adequate for use in the RMP for computing catch limits. (See Endnote 13.) Some members of the Scientific Committee expressed concerns over the new estimate because its calculation was inconsistent with the Committee's 1995 guidelines. (See Endnote 14.)
On June 28, 1996, at the IWC's 1996 annual meeting in Aberdeen, Scotland, the IWC approved a resolution calling on Norway to reconsider its objection to the moratorium on commercial whaling, to halt all whaling under its jurisdiction, to enforce measures to prevent whalemeat smuggling, and to provide information on its whale product stockpiles. (See Endnote 15.) The IWC also approved a resolution urging Norway to maintain its ban on exporting whale products. Norwegian delegates protested that the IWC was overstepping its jurisdiction.
Norway completed its 2-month 1996 whaling season on July 29, during which it killed 388 minke whales, 37 fewer than its announced quota. The hunting period was twice extended by an additional week; environmental groups suggest that Norway's inability to meet its own quota indicates that the 1995 population estimate may have been too high. The Norwegians, however, attribute the shortfall to bad weather conditions.
On November 22 1996, Norway announced a 1997 commercial minke whale quota of 580 animals, an increase of 155 over the 1996 level. The actual harvest may total 617 if whalers are allowed to carry over the previous year's shortfall. This could prove highly controversial, because the IWC will not meet again until October 1997, so Norway's unilateral action will not be subject to IWC review until after the 1997 commercial hunt has ended. In addition, Norway will seek to transfer the listing of the northeast and central Atlantic minke whale stocks from Appendix I to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at the biennial conference of parties to be held in June 1997 in Zimbabwe. (See Endnote 16.) This proposal is important to Norway, as the CITES Appendix I listing is the primary barrier to any resumption of whale product trade between Norway and Japan. (See Endnote 17.)
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