Study Finds Most Americans Would
Support Regulated Whaling

Monaco, 21 October 1997: In 1993, Michael F. Tillman, Deputy IWC Commissioner for the U.S., speaking at the 47^th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Kyoto, said that, because the Congress and the American public oppose whaling, the United States would continue to oppose whaling. It has now turned out that both premises of his statement are inaccurate. In the past four years, Congress has taken no negative action on the issue of whaling and, in fact, there have been a number of letters from Congressmen to the Administration asking them to support regulated whaling. 

One of the most respected pollsters in the field of natural resources has finished a study, which contradicts many commonly held assumptions about U.S. public opinion on whaling issues. 

Eugene Lapointe, president of the IWMC World Conservation Trust, released the study, which was conducted by a Virginia-based consulting firm called Responsive Management, at a press conference in Monaco where the IWC is holding its 49^th annual meeting. 

Lapointe reported that, although much U.S. federal policy is based on the assumption that the American public opposes whaling—this has now been shown to be completely false. 

The study’s most significant finding, Lapointe reported, was the fact that over 70% of American adults (71%) would support the harvest of minke whales provided they were used as a food source, represented a sustainable use, and was regulated. A small minority, 18% said they were opposed to whaling, and 10 % simply did not care. 

Another important result of the survey was the indication that a very high percentage of Americans had little information about whales and that what they accepted as true was often erroneous. 73% of respondents to the survey stated they had little or no knowledge about whales while only 2% said they knew a great deal about them but 7% said they believed there were no regulations on the taking of whales whatsoever. 

"The true value of this information is that the discussion of whaling issues can now rise above some of the disinformation and proceed at a rational scientific level. " according to Mr. Lapointe.