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Monday 15 September 2014

IWC 65 Monday Opening

The Grand Opening in the Grand (upside-down) Hotel

At a few minutes after 10am on Monday 15th September, IWC the sixty fifth meeting opens.

In which Chair Jeannine is Strict and Ministers make speeches
Delegates have been milling outside the great hall generally getting in each other’s way and trying to overhear each other’s key strategic discussions. There are some TV vans outside and a few journalists moving swiftly through the big crowd of several hundred people looking for charismatic mega-fauna, like ministers or the Commissioners of Japan or Australia. A small group of European Union officials wait nearby in case they need to leap into action if any European Union nation breaks away the The Agreed Position.

The great meeting room in the Grand meeting hotel is in fact a vast roman-type amphitheater with delegations playing the roles of gladiators for the entertainment of the spectators perched above on a raised tier of remarkably comfortable seats. From here they look down on the national delegates (the IWC Commissioners and their teams) sitting behind their flags. These poor souls are sitting in remarkably uncomfortable seats (to quote a colleague, this is the ‘Ryan Air of delegate seating’). 
Only the two lead delegates have a table on which they have their flag and name plate and can rest their papers, heads and so forth. Lesser delegates have to learn to balance notebooks, computers, translation devices and such on their knees and in their pockets and as we progress the whole meeting is peppered with what rapidly becomes the recognizable sound of headsets being dropped and gentle accompany cursing.  

The Slovenian Commissioner, Andrej Bibic, acts as compare for the opening and introduces the Slovenian ministers who make some speeches about the landscape and fish and generally welcome everyone. Minister Karl Erjavec, the Minister of Foreign affairs notes in his speech that we should listen to the views of experts and NGOs and this is warmly received. Tanja Strnista, Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Enviornment addresses us next . Amongst other things she speaks of the famous local caves and compliments the IWC Secretariat’s professional work is (these two matters are not directly linked).

Peter Bossman the major of Piran then greets us and speaks of the beauty of Piran and depleting whale numbers and urges the IWC to come to some agreement as to how to regulate whaling before there are no whales left. 

Simon Brockington, the executive secretary of the IWC thanks Slovenia back for acting as host and praises the venue. He adds that it is a particular pleasure to welcome so many observer organisation, whose contributions [probably verbal but he may have meant fiscal – or possibly both] he is looking forward to. He notes that in the last two years , the IWC has held over 30 working groups and stresses that the IWC is not just an international organisation but a global one. He also acknowledges over half a million British pounds in voluntary contributions to the work of the IWC. He is warmly applauded.

Finally, we come to the last speaker, the Chair of the IWC, Jeannine Compton-Antoine – a lot of what she wanted to say she says has been said, she says, but she thanks the secretariat and praises the location.

The first agenda item is the Credentials committee which consists of Japan, New Zealand and the Secretariat and all countries have their papers in order. The Exec Sec then reads off a long list of who does not have voting rights and this includes Cyprus, Mali, Mauritania, Portugal and the Solomon Islands.

Madam Chair next explains strictly that she will only allow limited debate and if it was previously said in a working group, it need not be said again. Commissioners are encouraged to associate with others. NGOs will be allowed to contribute to the debate if there is time; they must provide a list of who will speak in advance, after they have coordinated among themselves.

She reminds us that all documents are available on the website and moved to the adoption of the agenda which has some small changes.

There is a pause to see if there are any issues. Jannine looks at Simon; Simon looks at Jannine. Nothing happens and the agenda is adopted.

Toshide Kitakado, the Chair of the Scientific Committee then presents the work of the Scientific Committee over the last two years via a series of power-point slides that I will post seperately, for those that like that kind of thing,in a separate report.             

He notes there was some disagreement on how the review of JARPAII (Japan’s now infamous whaling programme in Antarctica) should be handled – and we are directed to see the relevant statements in the report. (There is no power-point slide about this). Finally the SC chair (in what is only a twenty minute item covering two annual reports from the Scientific Committee and all the work in between) notes that for more information he, or Greg Donovan (Secretariat Head of Science)  or Caterina Fortuna Vice Chair of the Scientific Committee can, be approached in the breaks.

And then we move to start the serious business of the day with the report on Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling.


The temperature starts to rise.

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