Greenland is planning to make a request to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to kill 10 humpback whales a year, starting in 2010. WDCS believes that the proposed hunt is unjustified and should be opposed by member governments of the IWC.
You can help us save the lives of these humpback whales by sending a protest e-mail today to European Union member governments urging them to reject the request.
Greenland will request this new quota under the IWCs category of Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling – non-commercial hunts intended to meet the cultural and subsistence needs of indigenous people who have a longstanding reliance on whale products. But Greenland’s hunters do not need to kill more whales for their subsistence – they actually have a surplus, and sell whole whales from their current quota of 212 minke and 19 fin whales a year to corporate wholesalers that sell frozen and vacuum packed whale meat and blubber through supermarkets all over Greenland, including to visitors and tourists.
On top of the whale hunts, Greenland’s hunters kill another 4,000 dolphins, porpoises and small whales every year, but not a single gram of meat from these animals is taken into account by the IWC when it evaluates whether Greenlands needs are being met by its existing whaling quota, or if it needs more whales.
WDCS believes this is wrong and we are demanding a long overdue reform of Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling to prevent these kinds of abuses. These humpbacks need our help now. Please help us now by calling on members of the European Union to vote against Greenland’s request to the IWC meeting this June to kill humpback whales. Thank you for your support.
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