To: Carlos Gutierrez (Secretary of Commerce) and The President of the United States

Started by: mike @change.org

The U.S. Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Dr. William Hogarth, who is also the current IWC chair, has co-drafted Suggestions on the Future of the IWC. His compromise boils down to a non-binding agreement between the IWC and Japan to allow for a commercial quota of minke whales to be taken from Japanese waters in exchange for either a) a five-year phase-out in the number of whales killed by Japan under the guise of scientific research in the Antarctic (minke whales, humpback and fin whales); or b) an IWC quota of minke and fin whales taken for “scientific research” in the Antarctic, plus an IWC quota of minke, sei, Brydes and sperm whales hunted in the Western North Pacific for “research” purposes.

The compromise, which is being circulated ahead of a special IWC meeting in March, is the result of the U.S. and others bowing to pressure from Japan, Norway and Iceland – the last three commercial whaling nations – and their IWC allies. The compromise would lift the two-decades-long commercial whaling moratorium that has saved the lives of many thousands of whales and has allowed whale populations to start to recover. Commercial whaling is an inherently cruel, outdated and unnecessary practice. Except for true aboriginal subsistence needs, there is no part of a whale that cannot be satisfactorily substituted with non-lethal alternatives. Whales are nowadays worth more alive than dead.

We need you to tell the new administration to halt the U.S. role in this deal-making and to issue new instructions to the Bush-appointed Commissioner Hogarth until he is replaced.

A phone call can often be many times more effective than a petition; in addition to signing the peition you should call any of the following. Leave a comment to let us know!

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Tel: 202-456-1111

The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
Tel: 202-647-4000

Secretary of Commerce
U.S. Department of Commerce
Tel: 202-482-4883

Read more on the Animal Rights blog and at the Animal Welfare Institute