× Information on this section of ECOLEX comes from the InforMEA Portal which compiled information from MEA Secretariats with the support of the European Union. The accuracy of the information displayed is the responsibility of the originating data source. In case of discrepancy the information as displayed on the respective MEA website prevails. Resolution on Whaling under Special Permit In The North Pacific Ocean Document type Resolution Reference number 2000-5 Date Jul 3, 2000 SourceUNEP, InforMEA Status Adopted Subject Wild species & ecosystems, Sea Treaty International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (Dec 2, 1946) Meeting 52nd Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC52) Website crm.iwc.int Abstract IWC Resolution 2000-5 Resolution on Whaling under Special Permit In The North Pacific Ocean WHEREAS Paragraph 1 of Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (Convention) provides that, notwithstanding anything contained in the Convention, any Contracting Government may grant to any of its nationals a Special Permit (Special Permit) authorising that national to kill, take and treat whales for the purposes of scientific research, subject to such other conditions as the Government thinks fit; RECALLING previous IWC Resolutions on whaling under Special Permit adopted by the Commission (1996-7, 1997-5, 1998-4, and 1999-3) and in particular Resolution 1995-9, in which the Commission recommended that scientific research involving the killing of cetaceans should only be permitted in exceptional circumstances where the questions address critically important issues which cannot be answered by the analysis of existing data and/or use of non-lethal research techniques; RECALLING also that in 1997 the Commission affirmed that the JARPN programme did not address critically important research needs for the management of whaling in the North Pacific Ocean; WHEREAS Paragraph 30 of the Schedule to the Convention provides that all proposed Special Permits be reviewed by the Scientific Committee, and that IWC Resolution 1999-2 specifically requested the Scientific Committee to provide advice on this to the Commission; NOTING the Government of Japan’s proposal to instigate in 2000 the JARPN II programme, under which takes of minke whales, and, for the first time, takes of sperm and Bryde's whales, would be authorized; FURTHER NOTING the many major concerns expressed and not allayed during the 52nd meeting of the Scientific Committee, including (among others) concerns that the proposal did not address questions of high priority relevant to management, did not make full use of existing data, and revealed many methodological problems; NOTING, in particular, that the Scientific Committee did not endorse the JARPN II proposal; NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION: AFFIRMS that gathering information on interactions between whales and prey species is not a critically important issue which justifies the killing of whales for research purposes; PROPOSES that information on stock structure, which may be relevant to management, be obtained using non- lethal means; STRONGLY URGES the Government of Japan to refrain from issuing special permits for whaling under JARPN II.