Le Japon a rendu public hier sa décision de proposer la réouverture de la chasse commerciale pour certaines espèces de cétacés, dont le rorqual de Minke, à la prochaine réunion de la Commission Baleinière Internationale qui se tiendra du 10 au 14 septembre prochain au Brésil. Il s'agit officiellement de proposer la fixation d'un quota de pêche pour les espèces dont les stocks sont reconnus comme sains par le comité scientifique de la CBI. D'autre part, il sera demandé une modification du processus de prise de décision au sein de la CBI, afin que les dispositions puissent être adoptées avec la moitié des voix et non plus les trois - quarts*. Selon l'Agence des pêcheries du Japon, 40 membres de la Commission seraient favorables à la pêche aux cétacés, alors que 48 s'opposeraient à cette pratique. Cette décision intervient alors que des membres du gouvernement et du pari libéral démocrate au pouvoir font pression pour que leur pays se retire purement et simplement des instances de la Commission, de façon à décider eux mêmes de leur politique baleinière.
* Ce type de changement , s'il était adopté, pourrait faire passer plus facilement des propositions, qu'elles aillent dans le sens de la pêche baleinière ou dans la création et le renforcement de sanctuaires marins.
The Mainichi, ce jour.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180627/p2g/00m/0bu/019000c
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan is set to propose resuming commercial whaling of some species at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in September as a ruling party endorsed the government plan on Tuesday.
Tokyo is targeting certain types of whales whose numbers are relatively abundant such as minke whales for the proposal, but it remains uncertain whether it can secure support from members of the IWC that are split over whaling.
Tuesday's approval by the Liberal Democratic Party came amid emerging calls from some government officials and ruling party lawmakers that Japan should weigh withdrawal from the IWC.
Their criticism is directed at the divisive and what they see as dysfunctional nature of the international body, with one ruling party source saying, "We are not going to drag this out."
At the meeting from Sept. 10 to 14 in Brazil, to be chaired by Japanese government representative Joji Morishita, Japan plans to make a packaged proposal that also calls for easing of the IWC's decision-making rules, a plan seen as a tactic to court anti-whaling members.
Currently, approval from a majority of three-fourths of IWC members is needed to set a catch quota or a sanctuary where whaling is banned. The Japanese proposal is to lower the hurdle to a simple majority.
The potential easing of the rules will make it easier for anti-whaling members to secure support for designating a new whale sanctuary.
Of the IWC's 88 members, 40 support whaling while the remaining 48 are against the practice, according to Japan's Fisheries Agency.
Actualisation au 6 juillet. Asahi Shimbun. Tetsushi Yamamura.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201807060009.html
Japan will submit a draft plan to reform the International Whaling Commission in hopes of restarting commercial whaling, the Fisheries Agency said.
The draft, which would allow member countries to disregard decisions reached by the IWC, will be presented when the global body meets in Brazil in September, the agency said.
Tokyo said it wants to reorganize the IWC to break the current deadlock between whaling and anti-whaling states and speed up the decision-making process.
The government’s draft plan, revealed on June 26, includes a proposal for lifting the IWC’s current moratorium on commercial whaling but restricting hunts to species with abundant available resources, such as the minke whale.
Another proposal would allow a simple majority to decide on important matters, instead of the currently required three-quarters majority at an IWC meeting. The draft said that such decisions should first receive unanimous approval at a subordinate committee.
These subordinate committees would be set up separately for different purposes, such as “sustainable use” and “protection” of whales, according to the proposal.
Any decision reached at an IWC meeting would apply only to countries that approve it, the draft said.
Japan will submit those proposals as a package.
Joji Morishita, Japan’s commissioner to the IWC, will chair the next IWC meeting.
“There couldn’t be a better opportunity,” said a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, of which the Fisheries Agency is part. “We hope to draw on this opportunity to realize an environment where Japan’s claims will have more chances of being accepted.”
Agency officials said sustainable use of whales is supported by 40 of the 88 IWC member states, including Japan, other East Asian nations and African countries. The remaining 48, many of them from the Western world, oppose whaling.
It remains uncertain, however, if Japan’s proposals will gain broad-based support from anti-whaling countries, which are seeking to set up whale sanctuaries.
“Our proposals would be advantageous to a certain extent to anti-whaling nations,” a Fisheries Agency official said. “We will stage campaigns for our proposals, saying they help to push reform.”
