Ban on commercial whaling might end soon
February 24th, 2010 - 12:51 am ICT by Aishwarya BhattTokyo, Feb 23 (THAINDIAN NEWS) There are reports that almost a quarter century old ban on commercial whaling could be overturned in the summer. The International Whaling Commission, which includes representatives from the U.S., Australia and Japan, have proposed to lift the 24-year ban on commercial whaling, in exchange for reducing the number of whales killed each year.
The International Whaling Commission is a 88-member commission, and they want to discuss the proposal at its annual general meeting in Morocco in June, according to a draft on the IWC’s Web Site. Members of the twelve participating countries gave their nod to the proposal in three closed-door meetings, which aim to end the stand-off between whaling and non-whaling nations.
Greenpeace activists are understandably very miffed at the proposal. “This legitimizes commercial whaling and the loophole that Japan has been using for the last 20 years. It is a throwback to the 20th century when whales were hunted to near extinction. Even if it reduces the number of whales culled in the short term, you are looking at a proposal that goes until 2020,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific chief executive officer Dr Linda Selvey said. “Once legitimized, it will be very hard to eliminate whaling. Any quotas in the Southern Ocean should be zero.”
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Tags: 20th century, annual general meeting, chief executive officer, commercial whaling, dr linda, extinction, greenpeace, greenpeace activists, greenpeace australia, international whaling commission, iwc, loophole, member commission, nod, quotas, selvey, southern ocean, throwback, whales, whaling nations