About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

23 Info. Rep.: Animal Welfare Inst. 1 (1974)

handle is hein.animal/awiqu0023 and id is 1 raw text is: INFer MA 1 N January, February, March, 1974 AFL-CIO VOTES TO SAVE WHALES The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations passed a Resolution at its last annual convention to Save the Whales. The full text of the Resolution follows: Preservation of World Whale Stocks WHEREAS, With the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, the United States committed itself to a major campaign to reduce the senseless and wasteful killing of marine mammals. Many of these animals, including seals, porpoises and whales, were considered to be endangered and had been hunted to the point where stocks were seriously depleted and in some instances exhausted, and WHEREAS, Since the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, significant steps by the U S., both unilaterally and multilaterally, have succeeded in setting up reasonable programs to preserve ocean mammlas, and WHEREAS, However, one species of mammal, the whale, continues to be hunted by several foreign nations, and the future survival of this ocean creature is in jeopardy. The major hunters of whales are the Japanese, and to a lesser degree, the Soviet Union. Together, the two nations account for over 90 percent of the whales killed throughout the world, and WHEREAS, The continuing desire of these two nations to maximize their whale harvest runs contrary to the views of the majority of the nations, including the United States, represented on the International Whaling Commission, the body which regulates the worldwide hunt for whales, and WHEREAS, At a recent conference of the Commission in London, Japan and Russia voted to continue to take whales in the face of worldwide sentiment that all whale killings should be halted, U.S. representatives pointed out that forecasts of whale populations are unreliable and that even with quotas, there is a grave risk of stock depletion. They urged that all nations follow the U.S. lead in declaring whales endangered species and prohibit either the hunting or importation of whales or whale products, and WHEREAS, Thus it is vital that if effective management of this ocean resource is to take place, then the wholesale killing of whales must be prohibited until there is sufficient knowledge about the size and habits of whale stocks. This is particularly true in light of the many other less depleted fish stocks available to the Russians and Japanese that could replace the whale's limited role as food for humans and animals; therefore, be it RESOLVED: That the AFL-CIO calls upon Japan and Russia to abide by world opinion expressed at the recent London meeting of the International Whaling Commission, and cease the hunting of whales in order that this important sea mammal can be preserved and allowed to grow in numbers, and also urges the Administration to bring pressure on these nations to comply with world sentiment that whales are endangered and must be preserved. INTERIOR PROPOSES MAJOR RESTRICTIONS ON WILDLIFE IMPORTS In Proposed Regulations published December 20, 1973 in The Federal Register, the U.S. Department of the Interior, under the authorization of the Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. 42) would ban importation of most wildlife for purely commercial purposes. The dangers of introducing exotic species are well-known, and the proposed regulations are published under the title, Injurious Wildlife. This is a courageous step in the public interest, opposed solely by those with a vested interest in buying and selling wild creatures made captive against their will and subjected to suffering in transit to market which is so severe that it frequently ends in death. ANIMAL WELFARE INSTITUTE P.O. Box 3650, Washington, D. C. 20007 Vol. 23 No. I TALBOT PRESENTS MEDAL TO McVAY The 1973 Albert Schweitzer Medal of the Animal Welfare Institute was awarded to Scott McVay for his distinguished service to the cause of the whales, tens of thousands of whose dwindling numbers are being painfully killed by explosive harpoons to satisfy commercial avarice. The presentation was made by Dr. Lee M. Talbot, an intensive fellow fighter for the whales in his capacity as Senior Scientist of the Council on Environmental Quality. Jason Robards, star of A Moon for the Misbegotten, and of countless other plays and films, spoke movingly at the ceremony of his love for the gray whales he watches on their annual migration as they pass his home on the coast of California. Robards called for decisive action by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to halt the slaughter by Japan and the Soviet Union. Texts of the presentation and acceptance speeches follow: Remarks of Dr. Lee M. Talbot, Senior Scientist of the Council on Environmental Quality, at the presentation of the Albert Schweitzer Medal to Mr. Scott McVay. Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. December 18, 1973 It is a great pleasure and honor to have been invited by the Animal Welfare Institute to make the 1973 Schweitzer Medal presentation to Mr. Scott McVay. The Albert Schweitzer Medal is presented annually by the Animal Welfare Institute to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to animal welfare. It is particularly significant that both last year's and this year's medals have been given to individuals involved with the conservation of whales. In its early days, the Schweitzer Medal was awarded to individuals who had contributed to animal welfare through work involving humane handling of experimental animals. The fourth Medalist, then Senator Hubert Humphrey, authored the first humane slaughter bill introduced to Congress. Subsequently, the basis for the award broadened as our awareness of the ecological facts of life has increased. We have gradually become aware that animals do not exist in isolation, but that they must be considered to exist at the center of a web of interrelationships - and that the welfare of the animal depends upon the welfae of that web. More recently, yet, there has been broad recognition that this factor applies as much to man as to any other living thing with which we share the earth. We have come to realize that our own welfare, indeed our own survival, depends upon maintaining intact and healthy the ecosystems on which we rely; and the survival of any of the species which are components of these ecosystems is a part of this. There has also been a growing international component to this new environmentalism, This was epitomized by the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment where 113 nations to a large degree laid aside their political differences to concentrate their efforts on the world's environmental problems. The results of the Stockholm Conference included agreement on over 100 specific actions, on United Nations environmental institutions and a declaration of environmental principles; yet the issue which became the symbol of the Conference was the whale. There is probably no living thing today that has come to be as representative and symbolic of our environmental awareness as the whales. Whales have become a focal point for international conservation concern. They have represented a true tragedy of the commons. They have been all-too exemplary of the over-exploitation and abuse of the environment and its resources by shortsighted human action. In the past they represented a significant natural resource. With successful conservation, they may again in the future. More than that, they represent what is widely believed to be a high order of intelligent being. The public responds to whales because of their unique size, their social structure, their songs, and

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most