A Small Working Group (SWG) of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) met in St.

Pete Beach, Florida, US, from 2-4 March 2010, to review the IWC Chair’s report on the Future of the IWC. The SWG, lead by IWC Vice-Chair Anthony Liverpool, consisted of representatives from 25 member countries of the IWC, and gathered to advise the Chair on ways to improve how the IWC operates and to seek ways to reconcile differing views about whale conservation and management worldwide. Representatives from non-governmental organizations participated in the meeting as observers and gave public comments. The Group did not reach an agreement on the number of whales that would be taken annually, with Japan, Norway and Iceland being the only countries that now hunt whales. Australia, New Zealand and other countries want to ban all whaling. This diplomatic process will continue up to the IWC’s annual meeting, which is scheduled to take place in June 2010, in Agadir, Morocco. At the conclusion of the SWG meeting, Vice-Chair Liverpool issued a statement in which he noted that all the governments indicated their desire to move forward, encouraged members to continue to move forward, and underlined that “much work” remains to be done before IWC members can make final decisions.
Links to further information
Statement by the IWC Vice-Chair, 4 March 2010
Meeting website
Reuters, 4 March 2010