The Caribbean countries of St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines were all IWC members in 1982 and voted in favour of the international ban (the moratorium) on commercial whaling. Although a member at the time, Dominica was not present for this vote.

After the moratorium was implemented in 1986, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines changed their position in favour of Japan’s pro-whaling policies, a move which was swiftly followed by new Japanese fisheries aid grants to those countries. Grenada and St. Kitts and Nevis joined the IWC in the early 1990s and have voted consistently with Japan on key issues, although St. Kitts and Nevis did not obtain voting rights until 1999. Antigua and Barbuda changed its position to pro-whaling in 1997, after being the only Caribbean country to cast a vote in favour of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in 1994.

By 1999, all six Eastern Caribbean countries were present and voting at the IWC and fully aligned with Japan’s increasingly aggressive pro-whaling campaign, repeatedly speaking out at IWC meetings in support of Japan. The solidarity of the Caribbean countries was clearly revealed in 1999, when Antigua and Barbuda announced on behalf of the Eastern Caribbean states that they would not take further part in the discussion of Japan’s Dall’s porpoise hunt, and left the meeting room with the Japanese delegation before the vote on a Resolution calling for a reduction in the number of Dall’s porpoises killed in Japan took place.