seals were handed to Parliamentarians and other items were distributed to provide for
a clear roadmap of how to vote. The overwhelming result of 550 Parliamentarians
voting in favour, vis-à-vis merely 49 against and 41 abstaining, of the ban on trade in
seal products is arguably a direct result of the strategies employed by NGOs. In fact,
the support for the ban is one of the highest approval rates in the history of the EU.
Concerning whaling, NGO presence is a common characteristic of the IWC. First
of all, over the course of the 1970s, the international, and primarily Western, view on
commercial whaling had radically changed. While conservation concerns and
associated reductions of whaling activities were one reason, public opinion on
whaling due to the generation of the ‘superwhale’ (see Chap. 1) had led the public
to oppose whaling for principal reasons. Interestingly, the capturing of whales and
dolphins to be put in aquariums, nowadays an activity that does not find much
support, also contributed to this overall change in discourse. With the overall
growing of environmental awareness, ‘the whale’ furthermore changed from the
gigantic Leviathan to the fragile species: the giant whale no longer opposed small
boats. Instead, the giant whaling vessel opposed small whales. NGOs were crucially
involved in advancing this narrative.
Over the course of the 1970s, anti-whaling NGOs became well-funded and wellprepared partakers in the discourse on whaling—both in Western societies as well as
within the IWC. The first direct result of this influence was the establishment of the
Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary in 1979, at that time a rather revolutionary approach
to whale conservation. In the times prior to the adoption of the moratorium, the IWC
saw a significant increase in membership of states without a direct whaling history.
Their pay-offs were not significant, but they joined in order to ‘fit in’. This shows
how influential the NGO-driven discourse on whales and whaling had become. For
some countries, NGO members were even part of country delegations. For instance,
an IFAW activist was member of the German delegation, exerting great influence on
German voting behaviour and paving the way for Germany’s future anti-whaling
stance. In fact, it is the same activist who was crucially responsible for the listing of
the minke whale under CITES Appendix I.
5 Also my own observations at the IWC
have shown how NGO members were present as NGO delegates on one meeting, but
part of country delegations in the next: at IWC67 in 2018 a member of an animal
rights NGO was a member of the UK delegation while having been an NGO member
at IWC66 in 2016.
In rather recent times, the issue of Japanese whaling has been brought to international attention through televised programmes such as the Oscar-winning film The
Cove or the action-laden adventure series Whale Wars. The former deals with the
dolphin drive in Taiji and is the story of US campaigners showcasing the cruelty and
supposed secrecy of the drive. After the release of the film in 2008, life in Taiji had
changed dramatically, causing an influx of campaigners to stop the drive. Legally,
Japan introduced new regulations concerning animal welfare. While in the direct
wake of the film hundreds of people annually came to Taiji to protest the hunt, at the
5 Epstein (2008), p. 159.
184
8 The Characteristics of International Marine Mammal Law
a clear roadmap of how to vote. The overwhelming result of 550 Parliamentarians
voting in favour, vis-à-vis merely 49 against and 41 abstaining, of the ban on trade in
seal products is arguably a direct result of the strategies employed by NGOs. In fact,
the support for the ban is one of the highest approval rates in the history of the EU.
Concerning whaling, NGO presence is a common characteristic of the IWC. First
of all, over the course of the 1970s, the international, and primarily Western, view on
commercial whaling had radically changed. While conservation concerns and
associated reductions of whaling activities were one reason, public opinion on
whaling due to the generation of the ‘superwhale’ (see Chap. 1) had led the public
to oppose whaling for principal reasons. Interestingly, the capturing of whales and
dolphins to be put in aquariums, nowadays an activity that does not find much
support, also contributed to this overall change in discourse. With the overall
growing of environmental awareness, ‘the whale’ furthermore changed from the
gigantic Leviathan to the fragile species: the giant whale no longer opposed small
boats. Instead, the giant whaling vessel opposed small whales. NGOs were crucially
involved in advancing this narrative.
Over the course of the 1970s, anti-whaling NGOs became well-funded and wellprepared partakers in the discourse on whaling—both in Western societies as well as
within the IWC. The first direct result of this influence was the establishment of the
Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary in 1979, at that time a rather revolutionary approach
to whale conservation. In the times prior to the adoption of the moratorium, the IWC
saw a significant increase in membership of states without a direct whaling history.
Their pay-offs were not significant, but they joined in order to ‘fit in’. This shows
how influential the NGO-driven discourse on whales and whaling had become. For
some countries, NGO members were even part of country delegations. For instance,
an IFAW activist was member of the German delegation, exerting great influence on
German voting behaviour and paving the way for Germany’s future anti-whaling
stance. In fact, it is the same activist who was crucially responsible for the listing of
the minke whale under CITES Appendix I.
5 Also my own observations at the IWC
have shown how NGO members were present as NGO delegates on one meeting, but
part of country delegations in the next: at IWC67 in 2018 a member of an animal
rights NGO was a member of the UK delegation while having been an NGO member
at IWC66 in 2016.
In rather recent times, the issue of Japanese whaling has been brought to international attention through televised programmes such as the Oscar-winning film The
Cove or the action-laden adventure series Whale Wars. The former deals with the
dolphin drive in Taiji and is the story of US campaigners showcasing the cruelty and
supposed secrecy of the drive. After the release of the film in 2008, life in Taiji had
changed dramatically, causing an influx of campaigners to stop the drive. Legally,
Japan introduced new regulations concerning animal welfare. While in the direct
wake of the film hundreds of people annually came to Taiji to protest the hunt, at the
5 Epstein (2008), p. 159.
184
8 The Characteristics of International Marine Mammal Law