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WHEREAS, whales consume fish and compete with coastal commercial fisheries and whereas the Committee of Fisheries of the FAO has agreed the importance on further study of the interactions between whales and fisheries, and
WHEREAS, Conservation-oriented member countries of the IWC, opposed to the sustainable use of whale resources, have proposed the establishment of a conservation committee designed to fundamentally contradict with the purpose of the ICRW.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,
that the SUSTAINABLE USE PARLIAMENTARIANS UNION (SUPU) urges nations
that are Parties to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
(ICRW) |
-To
recognize the cultural, economic and dietary traditions of island
and coastal peoples that seek to undertake sustainable harvest
of robust whale species; and
-To urge the IWC to complete the Revised Management Scheme
for resumption of sustainable harvest of the whale species; and
-To urge the IWC to support further research on the consumption of
marine living resources by whale species; and
-To oppose to the establishment of the proposed conservation committee.
June 15th 2003
Sustainable Use Parliamentarians Union in Berlin |
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Food Expert Stresses Importance of Whales
for Japanese People |
A symposium "Let’s Protect Our Japanese Food Culture--Seafood
Culture and Whales" was held at the Foreign Correspondents Club
in Japan on June 29. The symposium, organized jointly by the Beneficiaries
of the Sea Coalition and Women's Forum for Fish (WFF), attracted
some 300 participants. Professor Takeo Koizumi of Tokyo Agriculture
University, a prominent zymologist and food scientist, delivered
a keynote speech under the title of the "The Reserve Strength
of Japanese People and Their Seafood Culture." It was followed
by a panel discussion by Prof.
Koizumi, Ms. Ai Kanzaki, a noted flutist and actress, and Ms. Yuriko
Shiraishi, representative of WFF.
Prof. Koizumi at his keynote speech |
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Prof. Koizumi, also the new chairman of the Group to Preserve Whale
Dietary Culture, stressed that the Japanese people should be aware
of the importance of maintaining their year-old tradition of whaling
as source of healthy food from the oceans. Whales have been used
as marine resources in Japan for more than 4,000 years, thus closely
interwoven into the fabric of the Japanese cultural life, he added.
Commenting on the outcome of recent annual meeting of the International
Whaling Commission (IWC) in Berlin, Koizumi deplored that the IWC
has now turned into an organization to block commercial whaling.
To force the anti-whaling majority view with the number of votes
is far removed from democracy but is a kind of fascism, he said.
He criticized the double standard of the IWC for allowing the United
States a five-year block quota of 280 bowhead whales, the species recognized
as most endangered by the IWC Scientific Committee, while denying Japanese
any quota to take a limited number of whales from abundant species
to sustain their whale diet culture.
Koizumi told the audience that his group will step up publicity effort
in Japan, especially targeting at women and children to enhance their
awareness on the importance of whales for the Japanese. |
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