Whaling and the Strength of International Law
Question: “The practical and ethical arguments against whaling are clear and convincing, and international law has given them teeth” Do you agree? Or do you think that the International Whaling Convention, Antarctic Treaty System and Australia’s Legislation are toothless tigers?
TASK: Use the screen capture, video and the article below to help construct your opinion. Post your opinion here on Blogger and comment on the opinions of your fellow classmates.
The Fight Against Whaling
INTRODUCTION
In 2009, the 1959 Antarctic Treaty celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. Over its fifty-year existence the Treaty and the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) built upon it, have promoted the common ownership of Antarctica and the freedom of scientific research within its waters. The treaty has been remarkably successful in ensuring that Antarctica has not become the scene of international dispute. In this respect the Treaty has set aside sovereignty claims for Antarctica and its resources. Although seven nations still maintain territorial claims over parts of Antarctica (Australia, Argentina, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom).
However, the activities of one particular Antarctic Treaty party in the Southern Ocean has called for concern. Japan’s ‘special permit’ whaling program in the Antarctic, known as ‘JARPA’, has a twenty-year history stretching back to the late 1980s (Darby, 2007). This program has been undertaken notwithstanding regular protests by the International Whaling Commission (Wansborough, 2004), the international organization with primary responsibility for regulating whaling.
Japan’s Whale Research Program in the Southern Ocean
Japan ceased commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean at the end of the 1986/7 summer whaling season following the International Whaling Convention’s suspension of commercial whaling (which came into force in the 1985/6 season). The following year Japan began its Antarctic scientific whaling program JARPA, which has continued to this day. Around 6,800 Minke whales have taken during this time period. The scientific value of JARPA research, “monitoring of the Antarctic ecosystem”, has been repeatedly questioned by the International Whaling Conventions as “none of the goals of [JARPA] had been reached, and that the results of [JARPA] are not required for management”. Especially when there is emerging evidence as to the capacity to conduct non-lethal scientific research into whale stocks (Australian Antarctic Division, 2005), and also cultural evidence that Japan’s research program has a commercial element to it (Palmer, 2007).
The catch of Minke and Fin whales has been significantly reduced since 2007, largely due to the interruption of the hunt by vessels from Greenpeace International and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (Scientific Committee, 2008). In addition, the Australian Government deployed an Australian customs vessel, the Oceanic Viking, to monitor and collect evidence for the potential international illegal actions of Japan (Smith, 2008). The Australian Government believed that the illegal actions of JARPA within the waters offshore of their claimed Antarctic territory would be subject to the ‘Australian Whale Sanctuary’ environmental laws, ensures that all state and territories protect whales and dolphins within theirs waters. Japan refused to recognise Australia’s sovereignty within Antarctic waters, under the common ownership terms within the 1959 Antarctic Treaty (Mossop, 2005). Australia pursued the case further through the International Court of Justice.
CONCLUSION
On the 31st March 2014, the International Court of Justice delivered its judgment on Australia’s case against Japan, which saw evidence presented during a three-week hearing. The court ruled that Japan’s Southern Ocean whale hunt was illegal under international law, as the so-called ‘scientific’ whaling programme was a front for commercial harvesting. It was ruled that no further permits for scientific whaling should be issued under Japan’s scientific whaling programme in Southern Oceans.
