The Hogarth initiative on the future of the International Whaling Commission

Dr Bill Hogarth of the USA was the Chairman of the International Whaling Commission from 2006 to 2009. In a typical masterpiece of understatement, at the beginning of his term, he launched an initiative to reform the IWC with the words “it would be useful for the Commission to have a general discussion concerning the future of the IWC, given…the number of issues for which polarisation rather than consensus appears to be the norm”. This paper follows his initiative through three annual, and two intersessional meetings of the IWC, commenting on the major issues and events as well as the actions of the main players. It concludes with an analysis of the results of the initiative, and makes some predictions for the future of the IWC.