5.3.3 How Is Whaling Regulated by the IWC?
The regulatory framework for the hunt for whales rests in the Schedule to the
convention. The Schedule is an additional legally-binding document integral to the
convention, which provides more detailed rules for member states to implement the
ICRW. Since the Commission’s inception, the Schedule has undergone numerous
changes that have provided more and more shifts towards diverse and science-based
decision-making. In principle, the Schedule sets quotas for specific whale species in
specific regions, theoretically allowing member states to hunt these whales for
commercial purposes. The Scientific Committee, which has been part and parcel
of the Commission’s decision-making, provides the necessary scientific input that
ensures both the longevity of the whale species themselves and, at the same time,
their hunt. This idea of ‘sustainable use’ of whales is consequently a part of the
raison d’être of the Commission from the very beginning.
While nowadays quotas determine the numbers of whales that can, or cannot, be
caught, this system was introduced only in 1972 when the so-called blue whale unit
(BWU) was abandoned. The BWU was a system that was initially used by whaling
companies to regulate their whaling activities, but was taken over by the IWC upon
its inception. Based on this idea, countries were allocated specific BWUs based on
which they were able to hunt whales on a ratio-basis: one blue whale for two fin
whales, or two and a half humpback whales, or six sei whales. This strictly
efficiency-based approach led to the drastic overhunting of large whale species
such as the blue whales. In other words, the more large whales could be caught,
the faster the BWU was reached and the oil could be placed on the international
market. This led to what has been coined the ‘Whaling Olympics’ in which large
whale species were viciously overhunted for commercial gain, and despite the
existence of the regulatory body IWC.
From 1972 onwards, the issue of declining whale populations had also entered the
overall discourse on environmental protection, fuelling the environmental movement, which emerged during the 1960s. Indeed, also the United Nations recognised
the need for increased international efforts to protect the natural world. In order to
develop international means to safeguard the environment, the first UN Conference
on Environment and Development was held in Stockholm in June 1972. This
watershed event marked the birth of global initiatives that, in the longer run, resulted
in the establishment of more nuanced institutions and regimes dealing with environmental protection. As an outcome of this conference, also the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) was established with its headquarters in Nairobi,
Kenya. Furthermore, it was also at the Stockholm conference when particularly the
United States pushed for a global moratorium on commercial whaling in order for
the ever-decreasing stocks of large whales to recover. Since the conference itself did
not take any legally-binding decisions, but rather provided for a roadmap for the
future, it could not force the attending states—or the IWC, for that matter—to
impose a moratorium on whaling. Instead, the conference adopted an Action Plan
for the Human Environment in which the IWC is called upon to establish a 10-year
moratorium on commercial whaling. What that meant was that normative pressure
92
5 The International Legal Framework for Whales
The regulatory framework for the hunt for whales rests in the Schedule to the
convention. The Schedule is an additional legally-binding document integral to the
convention, which provides more detailed rules for member states to implement the
ICRW. Since the Commission’s inception, the Schedule has undergone numerous
changes that have provided more and more shifts towards diverse and science-based
decision-making. In principle, the Schedule sets quotas for specific whale species in
specific regions, theoretically allowing member states to hunt these whales for
commercial purposes. The Scientific Committee, which has been part and parcel
of the Commission’s decision-making, provides the necessary scientific input that
ensures both the longevity of the whale species themselves and, at the same time,
their hunt. This idea of ‘sustainable use’ of whales is consequently a part of the
raison d’être of the Commission from the very beginning.
While nowadays quotas determine the numbers of whales that can, or cannot, be
caught, this system was introduced only in 1972 when the so-called blue whale unit
(BWU) was abandoned. The BWU was a system that was initially used by whaling
companies to regulate their whaling activities, but was taken over by the IWC upon
its inception. Based on this idea, countries were allocated specific BWUs based on
which they were able to hunt whales on a ratio-basis: one blue whale for two fin
whales, or two and a half humpback whales, or six sei whales. This strictly
efficiency-based approach led to the drastic overhunting of large whale species
such as the blue whales. In other words, the more large whales could be caught,
the faster the BWU was reached and the oil could be placed on the international
market. This led to what has been coined the ‘Whaling Olympics’ in which large
whale species were viciously overhunted for commercial gain, and despite the
existence of the regulatory body IWC.
From 1972 onwards, the issue of declining whale populations had also entered the
overall discourse on environmental protection, fuelling the environmental movement, which emerged during the 1960s. Indeed, also the United Nations recognised
the need for increased international efforts to protect the natural world. In order to
develop international means to safeguard the environment, the first UN Conference
on Environment and Development was held in Stockholm in June 1972. This
watershed event marked the birth of global initiatives that, in the longer run, resulted
in the establishment of more nuanced institutions and regimes dealing with environmental protection. As an outcome of this conference, also the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) was established with its headquarters in Nairobi,
Kenya. Furthermore, it was also at the Stockholm conference when particularly the
United States pushed for a global moratorium on commercial whaling in order for
the ever-decreasing stocks of large whales to recover. Since the conference itself did
not take any legally-binding decisions, but rather provided for a roadmap for the
future, it could not force the attending states—or the IWC, for that matter—to
impose a moratorium on whaling. Instead, the conference adopted an Action Plan
for the Human Environment in which the IWC is called upon to establish a 10-year
moratorium on commercial whaling. What that meant was that normative pressure
92
5 The International Legal Framework for Whales