Beginning in 1979, Earthtrust has maintained an uninterrupted and active presence at the IWC, and is one of the few international organizations to have this long a record. During this period, Earthtrust's work in cooperaton with like-minded NGO's and nations has seen the IWC turn from a "whaler's club" into a reasonably effective convention for the conservation of whales. These meetings are held all around the world. It has been a long road; the initial whaling moratorium (on Sperm whales) went into effect in 1985 and on other species in 1986. Japan cut a side-deal with the USA to postpone economic sanctions and whaled until 1988. There have been victories; the Indian ocean and Southern Ocean whale sanctuaries are great achievements; and the membership of the IWC is now open to real science and pro-whale arguments. The enormous questions of infractions and illegal trade are still out there, though, and are what Earthtrust is focusing on now. Every year, an Earthtrust team is onhand with the best-available research to continue this long-running fight for the whales.
There are a lot of groups which talk about saving whales, but
only relatively few represented over the long term where it matters.
