Article VIII of the International Whaling Commission’s founding treaty, allows IWC participant governments to issue special 'permits' to themselves to conduct "scientific" whaling. This provision was not originally intended by the drafters, to allow for large scale lethal research or for the commercial use of whale products. However, several countries have exploited Article VIII to continue killing whales and marketing their meat, despite the fact that this is ILLEGAL under the current moratorium.

Because of this provision within the treaty, Article VIII creates a monumental loophole that the IWC cannot close without AMENDING the treaty. This loophole must be closed, ASAP!! Escalating whaling quotas by Japan, Norway and most recently Iceland, clearly point to a massive and unsustainable slaughter which will soon signal the complete demise of cetaceans if not halted. WE CAN NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!! You can help by signing this petition and passing it on.

IMPORTANT: PLEASE WRITE TO THE IWC DIRECTLY DEMANDING AN END TO ALL FORMS OF WHALING, WORLDWIDE:

International Whaling Commission:
Email: secretariat@iwcoffice.org


*** ALL WHALERS / SEALERS/ DOLPHIN KILLERS ARE COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN...BUYING SEAFOOD SUPPORTS MARINE MAMMAL SLAUGHTER! *** PLEASE DROP SEAFOOD FROM YOUR DIET!!


THE FOLLOWING LETTER WILL BE ATTACHED TO THE PETITION FOR PRESENTATION TO THE INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION:

We the undersigned, do hereby protest Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, and demand that the existing treaty be amended to close the so called 'scientific' whaling loophole. Exploitation of Article VIII, resulting in
ever-expanding whaling quotas by Japan, Norway and most recently Iceland, clearly point to an increasingly unsustainable, inhumane  trend which will soon signal the complete demise of our cetaceans, if not stopped immediately.

Cetaceans now face overwhelming threats to their survival due to global warming, overfishing, ship strikes, sonar disturbances and pollution. Slow reproductive rates and an unacceptably prolonged and cruel manner of slaughter dictate that cetaceans should be spared whaling in ANY form. The IWC must encourage non-lethal methods of cetacean study, revoke Article VIII and devise ways to implement protections for cetaceans, worldwide, including REAL consequences for those nations in violation of the moratorium. ALL whaling--whether it be categorized as commercial, scientific or subsistence--is brutal, archaic, intolerable and must be relegated to the past and ENDED PERMANENTLY.