HC Deb 10 May 2002 vol 385 cc361-2W
Mr. Gibb

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the 1946 International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling. [54976]

Mr. Morley

The Government's policy on whaling remains unchanged. We are opposed to all forms of whaling other than some limited subsistence whaling; and we strongly support the International Whaling Commission's moratorium on commercial whaling.

I am planning to attend the next annual meeting of the Commission which takes place from 20–24 May in Shimonoseki, Japan where the UK will resist any attempts to lift the moratorium.

Mr. Gibb

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the natural reproduction rate is of(a) Minke whales and (b) Sperm whales; and what her Department's estimate is of the rate of change in their global populations if these whales continue to be hunted at current levels. [54975]

Mr. Morley

Minke whales can normally reproduce every 1—2 years and Sperm whales every 4–5 years. It is not possible to estimate the effects of current whaling activities in terms of the rate of change in global populations.

Mr. Gibb

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's assessment is of the world's population of(a) Minke whales and (b) Sperm whales. [54977]

Mr. Morley

There is considerable scientific uncertainty over the numbers of whales of different species and in different geographical stocks. The International Whaling Commission (IWC), which is the primary international body responsible for the management and conservation of whales, estimated that(a) in 1995 there were approximately 149,000 Minke whales in the North Atlantic (excluding Canadian East Coast) and (b) in 1990, approximately 25,000 Minke whales in the North West Pacific and Okhotsk Sea. The IWC Scientific Committee is currently carrying out a major review of Minke whales in the Southern Hemisphere as no reliable estimate is available.

There is no current assessment of the population of Sperm whales.

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