makes effective decision-making in regard to whaling difficult and certainly not
consensus-driven.
This is especially the case since the moratorium on commercial whaling was to be
temporary from the outset. First of all, between the passing of the moratorium and its
coming into effect lay almost 4 years since it was the 1985/86 whaling season that
saw the moratorium applied. Secondly, the moratorium was to last for 4 years until
the Commission was to conduct a review of its effectiveness in 1990. This review,
however, did not materialise in the way it was supposed to: implying a review with
the intention of potentially lifting the moratorium. Instead, the majority of Commission members reaffirmed the moratorium, particularly in light of the decreasing
importance of whaling and scientific uncertainty. Indeed, upon passing of the
moratorium, the Scientific Committee was tasked to develop a new method of
determining whale stocks and their exploitation, bearing in mind the shortcomings
and concerns related to the New Management Procedure of the 1970s. This Revised
Management Procedure (RMP) was adopted by the Commission in 1994 and
provided a new methodology for the assessment and possible utilisation of whale
stocks. The specificity of the RMP lay in its inclusion of scientific uncertainty and in
the role of cetaceans in the marine ecosystem.
With the adoption of the RMP, the IWC accepted a scientific means to determine
the exploitability of whale stocks and also accepted the scientific basis for a lifting of
the moratorium. However, before a lifting of the moratorium was to be discussed, the
Commission was to furthermore agree on a scheme that allowed for observation and
for a system that insured that quotas were kept. The RMP was therefore to be
complemented by non-scientific elements, both of which were to accumulate in
the Revised Management Scheme (RMS), which the Commission agreed to work on
and ultimately adopt. However, since the adoption of the RMP, Commission
members have not managed to agree on the managerial aspects of the RMS,
particularly as regards the inclusion of a binding code of conduct for scientific
whaling. While some countries pressed for such code, others considered it premature, while again others urged for the amendment of the Convention in order to do
away with scientific whaling altogether. In 2006, the Commission agreed that it had
reached an impasse on the discussions surrounding the RMS. This resulted in the de
facto staying in place of the moratorium up to this day.
The RMS plays an important role in Iceland’s position within the IWC. Iceland
left the IWC in 1992 and did so due to the moratorium on commercial whaling. Even
though Iceland was the first country to conduct scientific whaling in its own waters,
which was in accordance with the convention, as we will see in the following
section, it sold the meat to Japan, thus effectively circumventing the ban on commercial whaling. Not surprisingly, this caused significant dissatisfaction amongst
Commission members and civil society organisations. Although Iceland voted
against the moratorium, it did not formally object to it and was therefore bound to
it. Along with Norway, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, in 1992 Iceland established
the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO), which promotes the
conservation and sustainable use of marine mammals (see Sect. 4.4.2). Iceland
therefore did not consider staying in the IWC a viable option anymore. In the course
98
5 The International Legal Framework for Whales
consensus-driven.
This is especially the case since the moratorium on commercial whaling was to be
temporary from the outset. First of all, between the passing of the moratorium and its
coming into effect lay almost 4 years since it was the 1985/86 whaling season that
saw the moratorium applied. Secondly, the moratorium was to last for 4 years until
the Commission was to conduct a review of its effectiveness in 1990. This review,
however, did not materialise in the way it was supposed to: implying a review with
the intention of potentially lifting the moratorium. Instead, the majority of Commission members reaffirmed the moratorium, particularly in light of the decreasing
importance of whaling and scientific uncertainty. Indeed, upon passing of the
moratorium, the Scientific Committee was tasked to develop a new method of
determining whale stocks and their exploitation, bearing in mind the shortcomings
and concerns related to the New Management Procedure of the 1970s. This Revised
Management Procedure (RMP) was adopted by the Commission in 1994 and
provided a new methodology for the assessment and possible utilisation of whale
stocks. The specificity of the RMP lay in its inclusion of scientific uncertainty and in
the role of cetaceans in the marine ecosystem.
With the adoption of the RMP, the IWC accepted a scientific means to determine
the exploitability of whale stocks and also accepted the scientific basis for a lifting of
the moratorium. However, before a lifting of the moratorium was to be discussed, the
Commission was to furthermore agree on a scheme that allowed for observation and
for a system that insured that quotas were kept. The RMP was therefore to be
complemented by non-scientific elements, both of which were to accumulate in
the Revised Management Scheme (RMS), which the Commission agreed to work on
and ultimately adopt. However, since the adoption of the RMP, Commission
members have not managed to agree on the managerial aspects of the RMS,
particularly as regards the inclusion of a binding code of conduct for scientific
whaling. While some countries pressed for such code, others considered it premature, while again others urged for the amendment of the Convention in order to do
away with scientific whaling altogether. In 2006, the Commission agreed that it had
reached an impasse on the discussions surrounding the RMS. This resulted in the de
facto staying in place of the moratorium up to this day.
The RMS plays an important role in Iceland’s position within the IWC. Iceland
left the IWC in 1992 and did so due to the moratorium on commercial whaling. Even
though Iceland was the first country to conduct scientific whaling in its own waters,
which was in accordance with the convention, as we will see in the following
section, it sold the meat to Japan, thus effectively circumventing the ban on commercial whaling. Not surprisingly, this caused significant dissatisfaction amongst
Commission members and civil society organisations. Although Iceland voted
against the moratorium, it did not formally object to it and was therefore bound to
it. Along with Norway, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, in 1992 Iceland established
the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO), which promotes the
conservation and sustainable use of marine mammals (see Sect. 4.4.2). Iceland
therefore did not consider staying in the IWC a viable option anymore. In the course
98
5 The International Legal Framework for Whales