[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 99 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. CON. RES. 99
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the policy of the United
States at the 58th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling
Commission.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 12, 2006
Ms. Snowe (for herself, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Kerry, Mrs. Dole, Mrs. Boxer,
Mr. Feingold, Mr. Reed, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. McCain, Mr. Leiberman, Ms.
Collins, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Dodd, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Levin,
Mr. Biden, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Jeffords, Ms. Landrieu, and Mr. Kennedy)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the policy of the United
States at the 58th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling
Commission.
Whereas whales have very low reproductive rates, making many whale
populations extremely vulnerable to pressure from
commercial whaling;
Whereas whales migrate throughout the world's oceans and
international cooperation is required to successfully
conserve and protect whale stocks;-
Whereas in 1946 a significant number of the nations of the world
adopted the International Convention for the Regulation of
Whaling, which established the International Whaling
Commission to provide for the proper conservation of whale
stocks;-
Whereas in 2003 the Commission established a Conservation
Committee, open to all members of the Commission, for the
purpose of facilitating efficient and effective
coordination and development of conservation
recommendations and activities, which are fully consistent
with the conservation objectives stated in the 1946
Convention;
Whereas the Commission adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling
in 1982 in order to conserve and promote the recovery of
whale stocks, many of which had been hunted to near
extinction by the commercial whaling industry;
Whereas the rights of indigenous people to whale for subsistence
purposes has been specifically recognized under the 1946
Convention;
Whereas the Commission has designated the Indian Ocean and part of
the ocean around Antarctica as whale sanctuaries to further
enhance the recovery of whale stocks;-
Whereas many nations of the world have designated waters under
their jurisdiction as whale sanctuaries where commercial
whaling is prohibited, and additional regional whale
sanctuaries have been proposed by nations that are members
of the Commission;
Whereas two member nations that lodged objections to the
Commission's moratorium on commercial whaling when it was
adopted continue to hold such objections, a third member
nation asserted a reservation to the moratorium on
rejoining the Commission, and one member nation is
currently conducting commercial whaling operations in spite
of the moratorium and the protests of other nations;
Whereas the Commission has adopted several resolutions at recent
meetings asking member nations to halt commercial whaling
activities conducted under reservation to the moratorium
and to refrain from issuing special permits for research
involving the killing of whales;
Whereas one member nation of the Commission has taken a reservation
to the Commission's Southern Ocean Sanctuary and also
continues to conduct unnecessary lethal scientific whaling
in the Southern Ocean and in the North Pacific Ocean;
Whereas one member nation is conducting unnecessary lethal
scientific whaling in the Atlantic;
Whereas whale meat and blubber is being sold commercially from
whales killed pursuant to such unnecessary lethal
scientific whaling, further undermining the moratorium on
commercial whaling;
Whereas the Commission has repeatedly expressed serious concerns
about the scientific need for such lethal research and
recognizes the importance of demonstrating and expanding
the use of non-lethal scientific research methods;
Whereas more than 9,150 whales have been killed in lethal
scientific whaling programs since the adoption of the
commercial whaling moratorium and the lethal take of whales
under scientific permits has increased both in quantity and
species, and a new program would take minke, Bryde's, sei,
fin, humpback, and sperm whales;
Whereas, one member nation is harvesting whales on an unprecedented
scale in the name of scientific research, and plans to take
up to 935 minke whales, 50 humpback whales, and 50 fin
whales in the Antarctic, and 220 minke whales, 50 Bryde's
whales, 100 sei whales and 10 sperm whales in the North
Pacific. Sei, sperm, humpback, and fin whales are all
endangered species;
Whereas engaging in commercial whaling under reservation and lethal
scientific whaling undermines the conservation program of
the Commission;
Whereas discussions are taking place within the Commission on a
Revised Management Scheme (RMS) that would regulate any
possible future commercial whaling;
Whereas any decision to lift the moratorium against commercial
whaling, or to allow commercial whaling in any other form,
must be taken independently from negotiations and adoption
of an RMS;
Whereas any RMS must include or be conditioned on the concurrent
adoption of provisions similar to those in other
international agreements related to fisheries and marine
mammals, including transparent and neutral observer
mechanisms, and effective compliance and dispute settlement
mechanisms;
Whereas to be effective, if an RMS is adopted, any future
commercial whaling must take place pursuant to the RMS, and
without reservation to any of its substantive provisions;
and
Whereas any decision to lift the moratorium against commercial
whaling must be conditioned on the immediate cessation of
lethal scientific whaling: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring)
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) at the 58th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling
Commission the United States should--
(A) remain firmly opposed to commercial whaling and
any linking of adoption of a Revised Management Scheme
(RMS) to the lifting of the commercial whaling
moratorium or allowing commercial whaling in any other
form;-
(B) initiate and support efforts to ensure that all
activities conducted under reservations to the
Commission's moratorium or sanctuaries are ceased;-
(C) seek to ensure that any RMS includes, or is
conditioned on the concurrent adoption of provisions
similar to those in other international agreements
related to fisheries and marine mammals, including
transparent and neutral observer mechanisms, and
effective compliance and dispute settlement
mechanisms;-
(D) insist that any future commercial whaling must
take place pursuant to the RMS without reservations to
any of its substantive provisions, and that lethal
scientific whaling must immediately cease upon the
commencement of any commercial whaling;
(E) uphold the rights of indigenous people to whale
for subsistence purposes, and firmly reject any
attempts to compromise such rights or to equate
commercial whaling with such rights;-
(F) initiate or support efforts to end the lethal
taking of whales for scientific purposes, seek support
for expanding the use of non-lethal research methods,
and seek to end the sale of whale meat and blubber from
whales killed for unnecessary lethal scientific
research;-
(G) support proposals for the permanent protection
of whale populations through the establishment of whale
sanctuaries and other zones of protection in which
commercial whaling is prohibited;-
(H) support efforts to expand data collection on
whale populations, monitor and reduce whale bycatch and
other incidental impacts, and otherwise expand whale
conservation efforts;-
(I) support the adoption of an active program of
work by the Conservation Committee to address the full
range of threats to whales, and otherwise expand whale
conservation efforts;-
(J) call upon the Contracting Parties to the
Convention to submit to the Commission for discussion
within the Conservation Committee national approaches,
including laws, regulations and other initiatives, that
further the conservation of cetaceans; and
(2) the United States should make full use of all
appropriate diplomatic mechanisms, Federal law, relevant
international laws and agreements, and other appropriate
mechanisms to implement the goals set forth in paragraph (1).
<all>D23/