Press Releases
24-28 May 1999 - Opening Statement of the World Council of Whalers to the 51st Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission
The World Council of Whalers represents the collective expression of millenia of ongoing, direct sustainable stewardship of the world's whale populations. As a forum for the world's whaling peoples, the WCW presents a unified voice for those cultures, communities and economies who possess a long-term, well-defined responsibility to the continued health and well-being of the world's diverse whale populations. The WCW asserts that in providing for and respecting the diverse cultural, social, economic and dietary needs of whaling peoples, we directly contribute to the long-term health and diversity of the global marine environment as a whole, within which whales and whaling peoples exist in a mutually sustainable relationship.
The WCW is in attendance at the 51st IWC meeting to ensure that the voice of whaling peoples will be heard in contrast to the faction of non-whaling nations and organizations who continually place self-interest and political expediency over practical considerations of sustainable use, ecosystem management, and food security. Their continued refusal to discuss such matters in a substantive way compounds the despair and suffering of whaling communities, and runs counter to the global community's support for the sustainable use of whales by whaling peoples clearly expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The Kyoto Declaration of 1995 regarding food security, the Law of the Sea Convention, and the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.
WCW member nations believe that the time has come for the IWC to abandon narrow, ethnocentric discussions based on emotion and instead begin to fulfill its legal obligations and mandates to clearly and effectively regulate the sustainable use of whales for food and economic subsistence. Whaling peoples possess a depth of applied knowledge of the world's whale populations acquired over generations. The WCW believes that this diverse body of traditional ecological wisdom applied in conjunction with sound science and ongoing research will result in the establishment of a global framework which will ensure the long-term viability and diversity of the world's whale populations, and the communities which depend on them. WCW member nations understand that all aspects of the global ecosystem must exist in a delicate balance; the isolation of one component as being of greater or lesser value than another results in a loss of this balance upon which global ecological health depends. The WCW remains committed to maintaining, and where necessary re-establishing, this essential balance.
To faciliate this, the WCW provides a forum for the respectful, friendly exchange of information between whalers, researchers, governments and all who have a commitment to the continued sustainability of the whale resource. The WCW advocates the use of constructive, respectful dialogue as the most effective means of striking a balance between the needs of whaling communities, whale populations, and all those with an interest in the long-term sustainability of the whale resource. Above all, the WCW exists as a forum where the world's whaling communities may be heard. Whaling peoples, through millenia of direct sustainable interaction and relatedness to the marine environment, are most vitally attuned to its changes. The WCW exists to ensure that their voices are not ignored.