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The day started out early with an 8 a.m. meeting of United States-based NGOs (of which ACS is one) with the US delegation. The meeting gave the commissioner and his team an opportunity to hear the concerns and advice from the various groups represented at the meeting, and to give a brief overview of the US position. Then everyone headed upstairs for the 10 a.m. Plenary Session kick-off.
As an observer, we sit in the very comfortable auditorium portion of the room. The delegations, most of which range in size from one to three people but can be as large as the fourteen-member US Delegation and the even larger Japan Delegation, sit classroom style facing the same way we do. That means that we see the backs of everyone’s head. The Chair sits on a raised podium facing us all. Anyone wishing to give a report or make an intervention (speak) is acknowledged by the Chair and then video of the speaker is projected on three large screens in the front of the room. Sometimes the camera has an unobstructed view of the person speaking and sometimes he or she is completely obscured by other bodies. Names are not used; all speakers are referred to and addressed by the name of the country they represent or their title within the commission. If you want to keep score at home, all documents that are available to the participants of the meeting can be downloaded from the IWC website, https://iwc.int/index.php?cID=28&cType=event . If you would like a postcard from the breathtaking Adriatic coast, send me an email at [email protected] within 48 hours of this blog post going live. Like the juggernaut that it is, the plenary was slow to gain momentum. Sixty-six countries have voting rights; a number more might get reinstated if they settle their dues balances. Brief technical issues with the translation services were quickly resolved. After warm welcomes by national and local dignitaries, the Agenda was adopted, followed by reports from the chairs of the Scientific Committee and of the Conservation Committee. After lunch, Brazil presented a Proposal for a Schedule Amendment to Create a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary, co-sponsored by Argentina, Gabon, South Africa and Uruguay. The proposal will be voted on Tuesday, but the battle lines were clearly drawn during the comments that followed the announcement, with India, Mexico, US, Netherlands, Chile, Spain, Australia, Monaco and the NGO community offering strong support; while Japan, Iceland, Guinea, Russian Federation and Antigua-Barbuda voicing their opposition (Korea spoke also but it was not clear where it stands). The five countries proposing this schedule amendment represent the totality of IWC member nations in the area affected and did their homework by working with the Scientific and Conservation Committees. Before adjournment, two out of seven proposed resolutions were introduced. The first is a Draft Resolution on Enhancing the Effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission and calls for a “comprehensive, independent review of the Commissions institutional and governance arrangements,” sponsored by Australia, New Zealand and the US. The second, a Draft Resolution on Improving the Review Process for Whaling under Special Permit, is an attempt to bring scientific whaling under the review of the Scientific Committee rather than leaving it up to the individual countries (at present Japan issues itself all permits for its scientific whaling), was sponsored by Australia and New Zealand. The remaining five draft resolutions will be introduced Tuesday, including one on the critically endangered Vaquita. My totally random seat selection for the fun and delicious dinner hosted by Slovenia rewarded me with a seat next to IWC Head of Science Greg Donovan. He has to be the Most Interesting Man in the World for someone interested in marine mammal research and conservation like myself. ACS Representative, Bernardo Alps
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American Cetacean SocietyThe mission of the American Cetacean Society is to protect whales, dolphins, porpoises, and their habitats through public education, research grants, and conservation actions.
ACS Representative, Bernardo AlpsCategories |