TROUBLED WATERS - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

15 Whaling and welfarePhilippa Brakes, Marine Consultant, C/o Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS),Chippenham, UKMark Simmonds, Director of Science, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS),Chippenham, UKPhilip Lymbery, Director of Communications, World Society for the Protection of Animals(WSPA), London, UK.Welfare and the IWCAnimal welfare as a scientific discipline incorporates applied aspects of ethology, bioethics and theconcepts of suffering and well-being. Welfare, including health, has many different aspects and isdefined by both the physical and psychological state of an animal, including how it feels. The welfarestate of an animal can be described as good or high if the individual is fit, healthy and free fromsuffering.124A REVIEW OF THE WELFARE IMPLICATIONS OF MODERN WHALING ACTIVITIESAnimals may suffer due to disease, injury, fear, or the frustration of basic needs. A ‘need’ is defined asa requirement fundamental in the biology of the animal, to obtain a particular resource or respond toa particular environmental or bodily stimulus. If a need is not provided for, then there may be aneffect on physiology or behaviour. One basic need is that an animal should not suffer at the time ofdeath.The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has been considering issues relating to the welfare ofhunted whales since 1957. During the annual meeting of the IWC that year, humane killing ofwhales was defined as the process by which the animal is rendered instantaneously insensible untildeath supervenes. In 1958, UNCLOS (the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)adopted a resolution requesting that all states use the best means available to capture and kill marinelife, including whales, in order to spare them from suffering to the greatest extent possible(UNCLOS 1958). The first IWC working party on humane killing was convened in 1959, whentime to death was identified as the main test of humaneness (see chapter 5).Whaling on the high seasDespite years of discussion of humane killing issues at the IWC, including the adoption of at least 15resolutions addressing the welfare of hunted whales, progress has been slow. Today severe welfareproblems remain for cetaceans that are hunted in commercial and Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling(ASW) activities. In cases where the impetus has existed to bring whaling activities into line withcommon expectations and national legislation for the slaughter of other animals for commercialpurposes, reaching these standards has proved problematic. This is demonstrated by Norway’s limitedsuccess in improving the instantaneous death rate (IDR) during its commercial hunt for minkewhales.Norway contributes more than any other nation to the development of both its own and other