§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will make a statement on the Government's current policy on the hunting of whales and the Norwegian proposal to recommence the killing of Minke whales;
(2) what approaches he has had from the Norwegian authorities on their proposals to recommence the hunting of Minke whales;
(3) if he will make it his policy to block at the next international whaling conference the proposals by Norway to recommence the hunting of Minke whales; and if he will make a statement;
(4) if he will make a statement on his contacts with the Government of Norway over whaling.
§ Mr. GummerThe United Kingdom played a leading role in achieving the current moratorium on commercial whaling agreed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). In my view there can be no question of the 93W moratorium being lifted unless and until the scientific advice is that whale stocks can be sustained at healthy levels and there is no likelihood of a species being endangered. I also consider that before there can be any consideration of resumption of commercial whaling, the IWC must develop a new management procedure to guarantee that there would be no repeat of the past history of over-exploitation. The moratorium is to be reviewed at the IWC's annual meeting this summer. If the assessments of the scientific committee, which are to be prepared for this IWC meeting, cannot confirm that the whale stocks are in a satisfactory position we will work hard for the moratorium to be continued.
Norway's recent action has been to request that the agenda of the forthcoming IWC meeting formally includes reconsideration of the protection stock classification of the north east Atlantic minke whale. The stock is already in 94W the programme for a detailed comprehensive assessment at this year's meeting of the scientific committee of the IWC. The current classification means that even if there were no moratorium, this stock should not be exploited. A change in classification requires detailed assessment and evaluation by the scientific committee of the IWC in order for advice to be put to the Commission. This has yet to take place. As with the moratorium, I consider that no changes should be made without clear scientific advice as to the safety of the stock.
The Norwegian government are very aware of our views on whaling. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary made our position very clear when he met the Norwegian Fisheries Minister earlier this year. In addition we also have frequent contacts at official level under the umbrella of the work of the International Whaling Commission.