Why an Introduction to International Marine Mammal Law?

Abstract

I was born in Germany in 1980—a year when the Voyager probe proved the existence of the Saturn moon Janus and when the US Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets in the semifinals of the Winter Olympics. Of course, many other things happened, but all I was interested in was eating, drinking and sleeping. I was still a toddler when in 1982 when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) decided to put a halt on the commercial hunt for whales in order for them to recover. This so-called ‘moratorium’ on commercial whaling is probably one of the most far-reaching decisions the IWC has ever made. The reason is rather simple: while it is supported by the majority of the members of the IWC, it is far from ever having been a unanimous decision. Until today, the moratorium constitutes one of the—if not the—most contentious issues within the Commission. I have come across many statements in the German- and English-language media which claim that ‘the world has made whaling illegal’ and therefore that ‘whales are protected under international law.’ Also in discussions that are ongoing in social circles—actual or electronic—countries like Japan, which has always pushed for a resumption of sustainable commercial whaling, is often portrayed as the outlaw, the free-rider that ignores the world’s wish to end the lethal and commercial use of whales.