Powell Must Reward Japan's
"Magnanimity" on Alaskan Whaling

Florida, 02 July 2002: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell must respond positively to Japan’s latest decision to support whale hunting by Alaskan Eskimos, according to Eugene Lapointe, a former Secretary General of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), today.

Mr. Lapointe, who headed the world intergovernmental conservation body from 1982-1990, praised Japan for not pressing home the diplomatic advantage it gained at the recent annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), at the expense of Alaska’s indigenous people.

Mr. Lapointe said: "The U.S. has behaved badly towards Japan for several years by blocking a meager hunting quota for coastal communities that share similar social, economic, cultural and spiritual characteristics to the Inupiat. By now offering the hand of friendship and withdrawing its opposition to the bowhead hunt, Japan has gained the moral advantage. It is up to Colin Powell to reciprocate by showing an equivalent level of graciousness towards Japan. He should quickly announce a review of U.S. policy on these coastal communities."

At the annual meeting of the IWC in May, the U.S. delegation orchestrated opposition to Japan’s proposal to allow four small coastal communities – Ayukawa, Wada, Taiji and Abashiri – to hunt a total of fifty minke whales per year in Japan’s own waters. Such a hunt is easily sustainable given the local stock of 25,000 minke whales and a world population of around one million.

After succeeding in defeating Japan’s proposal, the U.S. immediately proposed that its own nationals should be allowed to hunt up to sixty-seven bowhead whales out of a regional population of around 9,000. At the time, Deputy Head of the U.S. delegation, Michael Tillman, a State Department official, justified the Inupiat proposal by arguing: "You cannot possibly characterize this stock as being in a dangerous situation." While this hunt can also be categorized as being sustainable, the proposal failed when Japan and several other countries objected to apparent U.S. hypocrisy. A group of small island nations and developing countries branded the U.S. and its allies an "axis of intolerance" against other cultures.

Mr. Lapointe added: "It is refreshing to see a country like Japan take the lead and try to remove politics from what should always be a scientific and objective process. The fact that Japan has yielded, without being placed under any over-arching diplomatic pressure from other countries, is to be applauded. It is now up to Secretary of State Powell to engage Japan and begin talking about these issues like grown-ups."

Mr. Lapointe is President of IWMC (International Wildlife Management Consortium) World Conservation Trust, which is involved in a wide range of conservation and wildlife issues. IWMC advocates the use of science-based wildlife management techniques and the humane, ethical and fair treatment of all people whose customs and traditions involve the sustainable use of wildlife resources.

For more information and interviews, contact Eugene Lapointe
Email: iwmc@iwmc.org