ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 99

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED MAY 20, 1996

 

 

By Assemblyman CORODEMUS

 

 

An Assembly Resolution requesting the President and the Secretary of State of the United States to express disapproval of Norway for its commercial whaling policies and for the raising of its quotas on minke whales.

 

Whereas, Whales have been recognized internationally since the 1960s as animals unnecessarily threatened with extinction because of the variety of alternative sources in modern time for the products and by-products derived from whales; and

Whereas, The International Whaling Commission voted in 1982 to impose a moratorium on all commercial whaling at the end of the 1984-85 season; and

Whereas, The principal whaling nations --- Japan, Norway and Russia (then the Soviet Union) --- did not agree to the moratorium until 1988, and in 1992, Norway announced it would resume hunting minke whales because, in Norway's opinion, the species was no longer in danger of extinction; and

Whereas, The International Whaling Commission specifically banned commercial whaling of minke whales in 1993 because of the declining numbers of the species; and

Whereas, It has been reported by international news services that Norway has almost doubled its quota from 232 to 425 minke whales for the 1996 season at a time when the total world population of minke whales is estimated at 110,000 to 120,000 whales; and

Whereas, Public opposition to this move has been made all the more apparent by published news reports that the head of resources management at the Ministry of Fisheries in Norway said no public announcement of this initiative would be made to avoid violence against whalers; and

Whereas, The United States has been in the forefront of the "Save the Whales" movement, by banning the importation of whale products in 1970 and, later in 1972, by prohibiting all commercial hunting of whales in United States waters; now, therefore


    Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. The President and the Secretary of State of the United States are requested to express disapproval of Norway for its commercial whaling policies and for the raising of its quotas on minke whales.

 

    2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and attested to by the Secretary thereof, shall be transmitted to the King and Prime Minister of Norway, the President, Vice President and the Secretary of State of the United States, the United States Ambassador to Norway, and the members of the Congress of the United States.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This resolution requests the President and the Secretary of State of the United States to express disapproval of Norway for its commercial whaling policies and for the raising of its quotas on minke whales. Norway, in the face of an international ban on minke whale hunting, recently increased its minke whale quotas from 232 to 425 whales. It is estimated that the total world population of minke whales is 110,000 to 120,000 whales.

 

 

                             

Requests the President and the Secretary of State of the United States to express disapproval of Norway for its commercial whaling policies and for the raising of its quotas on minke whales.