IWC normalization meeting
By Silafaga Lalua
The IWC has called for its normalization hence its meeting held last week in Tokyo, Japan.
Secretary to Government Panapasi Nelesone, who is also Tuvalu’s Commissioner to IWC, attended the meeting and told Tuvalu news the normalization is important to the commission.
Reports said that IWC in its meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis last year , approved a proposal for its normalization, and offered to convene a meeting this year to dicuss and exchange ideas for normalising IWC and to develop and recommend a plan of specific steps to for implementing the convention for the Regulation of Whales.
Mr. Nelesone explained that the normalization was called for because IWC had drifted away from its original mandate prescribed by the International Convention for the regulation of whaling.
As it stands now, IWC has a pro-whaling group of members who agree to harvest whales when they are abundant, and there is also an anti-whaling group of members who do not agree at all to any killing of any whale species.
He further said that anti-whaling member countries are more than pro-whaling members, and they boycotted this Tokyo normalization meeting.
The five day meeting included the three day IWC meeting and an extra 2 day meeting for pro-whaling member countries.
Nelesone emphasised that Tuvalu’s stand in IWC is for the sustainable use of marine resources, thus whales species confirmed by IWC scientific committee to be abundant, can be harvested as long as their number can be sustained for future generations.
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