Whaling: Decline of Antarctic minke whale numbers - timeline
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Timeline
- December 2007. Japan suspends the inclusion of 50 humpback whales in its annual "scientific" whaling hunt.
- November 2007. Japan announces that its whaling fleet will hunt up to 50 humpback whales, in addition to its usual catch of 50 fin whales and 935 minke whales, during its annual "scientific" whaling expedition.
- August 2007. Iceland’s fisheries minister, Einar Kristinn Gudfinnsson, announces that the Icelandic government will issue no new commercial whaling quotas because of the lack of domestic demand for whale meat.
- May 2007. During the 59th annual meeting of the 77-member International Whaling Commission (IWC), the practice of "aboriginal whaling" is disputed; Denmark is criticised by other European members for successfully lobbying to increase the total number of whales caught by Inuit communities in Greenland from 170 to 233.
- February 2007. Only 35 of the IWC's member states attend a meeting on the "normalisation" of the IWC hosted by the Japan as a step in its strategy to lift the moratorium on commercial whaling of 1986.
- October 2006. Iceland announces its intention to resume commercial whaling, defending the decision on the grounds of economic necessity.
- June 2006. The 58th annual meeting of the IWC sees a shift in the balance of power in the commission towards the pro-whaling members of Japan, Norway, and Iceland when a motion calling for the repeal of the moratorium on commercial whaling is passed by 33 votes to 32, with one member (China) abstaining. However, a 75 per cent majority is needed to overturn the moratorium.
- January 2006. A dispute begins between the environmental group Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), its more radical rival. The dispute concerns the claims made by both environmental groups that the other had endangering lives by trying to ram its vessels.
- October 2005. Paul Maunu'u, Solomon Islands minister for fisheries and marine resources, resigns from his post after defying cabinet policy by voting at the annual meeting of the IWC to support Japan's proposal to end the international moratorium on commercial whaling.
- June 2005. Japan submits several proposals to the IWC, including one to double the number of minke whales that it is allowed to catch each year from 440 to 935 and to add to its catch 50 humpback and 50 fin whales per year.
- July 2004. The 56th annual meeting of the IWC commences with a motion to allow votes at the meeting to be held as secret ballots, but the proposal is defeated by 29 votes to 24.
- March 2004. The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) launches a campaign against continued scientific and commercial whaling by Japan and Norway.
- September 2003. A study presented to the US National Academy of Sciences claims that industrial whaling in the north Pacific Ocean 1949-69 dramatically affected Pacific marine life.
- August 2003. Three whaling boats commissioned by the Icelandic government resume whaling for the first time since 1990.
- June 2003. During the 55th annual meeting of the IWC, Japan mobilises its supporters to ensure the defeat of a proposal to establish a South Pacific whale sanctuary, for the fifth year running.
- May 2002. Japan is widely accused of using its foreign aid budget to bribe small African, Caribbean, and Pacific members of the IWC to back it on whaling issues.
- January 2002. The BBC reports that the south-western Japanese city and former fishing port of Hirado is planning to establish an offshore "farm" for minke whales, saying that it would be used as a tourist attraction and a way of studying the behaviour patterns of whales.
- October 2001. Deputy Prime Minister Robert Woonton of the Cook Islands announces that his government has declared a whale sanctuary throughout the Cook Islands’ exclusive economic zone, some 2 million sq. km of the South Pacific Ocean.
- July 2001. The head of Japan's fisheries agency admits to the charge made by critics that Japan used development aid to secure support for its position in the IWC from small states, chiefly in the Caribbean and Africa.
- June 2001. Iceland rejoins the IWC.
- April 2001. The members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) unanimously support a proposal to create a South Pacific whale sanctuary adjoining the existing Southern Ocean whale sanctuary.
- January 2001. Norway announces that it is to resume the trade in whale products, principally meat and blubber for the Japanese market.
- September 2000. US President Bill Clinton orders that Japan should be barred from consideration for foreign fishing rights in US waters after Japan refuses to retract its decision to expand the scope of its "scientific" whaling.
- April 2000. The Japanese government lodges a proposal with the IWC to extend Japan's "scientific" whaling programme to include sperm whales and Bryde's whales.
- October 1997. The IWC chair puts forward a controversial proposal to create a whale sanctuary on the high seas and to ban all international trade in whale products, but also to sanction limited coastal hunting.
- June 1996. The 48th annual meeting of the IWC, held in Aberdeen, UK, ends in disarray after a pre-meditated walk-out by Norway.
- May 1994. Countries participating in the 46th annual meeting of IWC, held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, vote to establish a whale sanctuary in the Antarctic.
- September 1992. The Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, and Norway announce the establishment of a new North Atlantic Marine Mammals Commission, to be based in Tromsö, Norway.
- Ocotber 1986. At the 38th annual IWC meeting the catch quota for all stock is effectively set at zero.
- July 1982. At the 34th annual IWC meeting the decision is taken to ban commercial whaling by 1986.
- December 1978. A conference to discuss the conservation of marine resources in the Antarctic takes place in Canberra, Australia.
- September 1972. The "blue whale unit" (bwu) system of quota measurement--one bwu being equivalent to the quantity of oil produced by one blue whale (the largest whale species)--is replaced by quotas applied directly to individual species in each major hunting ground.
- December 1961. The Norwegian authorities give notice of their conditional withdrawal from the IWC, stating that the withdrawal would be cancelled if an agreement concerning the whaling quotas for the 1962-63 season could be reached.
- September 1960. The Norwegian government announces its intention to rejoin the IWC on the condition that the Netherlands would again adhere to the convention.
- June 1959. Norway and the Netherlands leave the IWC.
- December 1954. A fine of 57,000,000 soles (about US$3,000,000) is imposed by the Peruvian government on Aristotle Onassis’s whaling vessels, for operating within territorial limits claimed by the Peruvian government.
- October 1946. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, supreme allied commander in Japan, authorises a Japanese whaling expedition to the Antarctic.
- January 1946. The 1946-47 whaling season is extended for 4 months owing to the interruption of Antarctic whaling by World War II, and post-war conditions.
- September 1937. The Norwegian government announces that a record number of whales, 44,782, were harvested during the 1935-36 season.
- September 1931. The League of Nations draws up a convention for the prevention of indiscriminate whaling.
