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Sir Geoffrey Palmer says if fewer whales are to be killed in the Southern Ocean the emotion has to be taken out of the debate.
Talking to TVNZ's Q+A programme , Palmer says that despite the moratorium set in 1986, thousands of whales are still being killed and a diplomatic solution is needed.
Critics are angry that whaling nations could be allowed to resume limited commercial hunting for the first time in 24 years under a draft plan drawn up by the International Whaling Commission.
But Palmer, a commission delegate, told Guyon Espiner it is still in negotiation and New Zealand will not agree to any new arrangement that does not result in a significant reduction in the number of whales killed.
The former Prime Minister says that since the moratorium some 33,000 whales have been killed, mainly through scientific whaling, and he expects any new deal would "save several thousand whales over a period of 10 years".
At the moment 3,000 whales are the subject of permits issued by the governments of Japan, Norway and Iceland, and Palmer points out that these are not under international or IWC control.
Not all permits are used and on average 1,600 whales are killed each year. The whole purpose of the latest negotiations, Palmer says, is to substantially reduce that number.
"The whaling commission is one of worst international organisations we have," says Palmer. "It is completely dysfunctional."
Palmer says there has been continual "slippage" in whale deaths since the moratorium and if the commission collapses there will be nothing to save them.
He says New Zealand and Australia hold similar positions on the issue and there is no gap with Australia in terms of the objective of reducing whale deaths.
"We don't want any whaling in the Southern Ocean, we don't want any commercial whaling but we have no way of enforcing our will," says Palmer.
He says the only hope is for compromises on both sides.
"This is a complicated international negotiation. You can't turn it into some black and white series of absolutes.
"We have to do something to fix the position of whales and make it better so fewer are killed."
Palmer says the only alternative to diplomatic negotiation is to litigate at the International Court of Justice which he describes as a "very uncertain proposition". He says if that was lost the situation would be worse and Japan's position would be greatly strengthened.
While acknowledging non governmental organisations (NGOs) have a role to play, Palmer says it is no use posturing without producing actual results.
"Increasing numbers of whales are being killed in the Southern Ocean in circumstances of considerable disorder," he says.
Palmer says the actions will inevitably lead to loss of life unless a solution is found.
Referring to New Zealander Peter Bethune, who is in jail in Japan after boarding a Japanese whaling ship, Palmer says the case will end up in court as the "natural and probable consequence of what happened".
There is nothing the New Zealand government can do to stop that and it can only ensure he is treated properly, Palmer says.
"We cannot stop the inexorable processes of the Japanese legal system."
There are very grave difficulties in the IWC, says Palmer, because of the very wide differences of view.
"We have to try and bring those differences together and find some things we agree on.
"The destruction of it would lead to chaos for the whales."
What do you think about about Sir Geoffrey Palmer's stance? Have your say on our messageboard
Add a Comment:
Post new commentGiant Sequoia said on 2010-03-29 @ 09:35 NZDT: Report abusive post
Message for Sir Geoffrey Palmer Your suggested compromise with nations like Japan who are illegally and brutally ignoring the conservation pleas is a wrong decision to make. The underlying reason is that NZ wants to have a free trade agreement with Japan. Compromise is equivalent to selling your nation's integrity or soul to the devil. Japan is not a nation suffering from the lack of food - they are suffering from greed and NZ has just been used as a pawn.
qwert said on 2010-03-22 @ 06:11 NZDT: Report abusive post
SSCS is the group ignoring International laws and conventions. The reason No government will attempt to prosecute the Japanese is because they know Japan is not breaking any laws. As is implied in the article, any case brought against them in the int. Court of Justice would likely be decided in Japan's favor. All SSCS is doing making reasonable compromise with Japan more difficult and they are delaying the day when Japan stops all whaling. SSCS games are causing MORE whale deaths, Not less.
whalerider said on 2010-03-21 @ 17:53 NZDT: Report abusive post
By now even McCully must realise that you can't 'talk' to Japan.No Government has taken action over their breaches of Law of the Sea Convention, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling Convention [various breaches including an abuse of right of Article VIII & other regulations] , the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) [& other ATS conventions], and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Plus a few other irregularities. GO SSCS!
simc said on 2010-02-15 @ 16:04 NZDT: Report abusive post
cpederson Greenpeace and presumably the sea shepherd have tried numerous attempts to engage and communicate via other mediums, which have not amounted to success. The governments of NZ and Australia have a responsibility to bring these illegal practices to justice, but don't, so who will interfere with this pointless butchery? The Japanese ships collided with protestors countless times, do you really think the protestors really wish to risk their lives by creating a no-way out situation?
Zanziabar said on 2010-01-08 @ 20:02 NZDT: Report abusive post
Not an ounce of sympathy for the protestors on this one, The video shows them directly in the path of the whaling boat. What did they honestly expect to happen? It's a 1000 ton whaling ship that isn't going to be stopped by a plastic boat, It does deliberately seem like the protestors were gunning for this kind of reaction