State Minister Victor Yano in a letter to Masahiko Yamada, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries stated that the country endorses in principle the “proposed consensus decision to improve the conservation of whales.”
Palau’s position however is confusing since it is also Japan’s position to resume commercial whaling but on a restricted basis.
In aproposal before the IWC, Japan wants the numbers increased while some countries want it reduced.
In the letter Yano said Palau specifically supports “formulation of a single category of whaling that would be under the full control of a future restructured International Whaling Commission.”
The country has dropped its support for Japan’s scientific whaling in favor of a halved catch quota proposal pushed by the International Whaling Commission.
Palau used to be a staunch supporter of Japan’s whale hunting carried out under a loophole in the international whaling ban that allows hunting for scientific purposes.
”We are shifting our vote, instead of voting with Japan we are proposing a quota, to cut down the hunting of minke whales to half,” said President Johnson Toribiong.
On June 2, Toribiong discussed Palau’s new position with Japanese envoy Kenro Iino, who traveled to the island.
In the meeting, Toribiong said the Japanese special envoy stressed that the whales consume more fish stocks than humans do
The Japanese envoy also told the president that there is an abundance of minke whales and that an annual take would not deplete the stocks.
“Like Japan, Palau is hopeful that an acceptable solution would be reached at IWC62 for the establishment of a regime that strikes a balance between continued conservation of threatened whale stocks and a scientifically monitored management of whale species proven to be overabundant,” the letter stated.
Palau has been a member of the IWC and is one of the pro-whaling nations supporting Japan’s research program.
An IWC meeting is scheduled to be held on June 24 in Morocco, and Palau is sending its representatives, Victor Uherbelau and Ramon Rechebei to carry out the country’sposition.
The president said the air fare is being shouldered by the Overseas Fishery Cooperation of Japan.
The policy shift is apparently a result of Palau’s review of its current position on whaling. This time, he said, Palau will make sure that it does not contribute to the depletion and extinction of whales.
Last month Australia, a donor country to Palau, lodged a legal action in the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands, claiming Japan has breached its obligations under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.
Japan is the largest donor to Palau after the United States.
Toribiong recently declared Palau a shark sanctuary at the U.N. General Assembly. He said the country also needs to protect other marine species in Palau.
The moratorium on commercial whaling has been in place since 1986.
Japan, however, continues to hunt about 1,000 whales a year for research purposes.
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