Community | April 15, 2010 | 2 comments

U.S. Leads New Bid to Phase Out Whale Hunting

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/science/earth/15whale.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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jefftego
The United States is leading an effort by a handful of antiwhaling nations to broker an agreement that would limit and ultimately end whale hunting by Japan, Norway and Iceland, according to people involved with the negotiations.

The compromise deal, which has generated intense controversy within the 88-nation International Whaling Commission and among antiwhaling activists, would allow the three whaling countries to continue hunting whales for the next 10 years, although in reduced numbers.

In exchange, the whaling nations — which have long exploited loopholes in an international treaty that aims to preserve the marine mammals — would agree to stricter monitoring of their operations, including the placing of tracking devices and international monitors on all whaling ships and participation in a whale DNA registry to track global trade in whale products.

Officials involved in the negotiations expressed tentative hope that they could reach an agreement in coming weeks. But ratification by the overall group remains uncertain.

Some pro-whale activists say the deal would grant international approval for the continued slaughter of thousands of minke, sei and Bryde’s whales. They also say that the agreement does not prevent Japan and the other nations from resuming unlimited whaling once the 10-year period is up.

Populations of some whale species have been growing since the moratorium ended decades of uncontrolled hunting, but whales around the world remain under threat, not only from hunting but also from ship strikes, pollution, habitat loss, climate change and entanglement in fishing nets.
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2 comments // U.S. Leads New Bid to Phase Out Whale Hunting

  • captainplanet71
  • jefftego
    • 0
      jefftego  

    • "At the core of the proposal is a 10-year suspension of the moratorium. This would legitimise Japan, Norway and Iceland's whaling, allowing them to carry on hunting whales commercially without recourse to special permits or objections. Negotiations are now under way to set quotas for the species that will be commercially hunted: humpback, sperm, minke, sei, fin and Bryde's whales.

      In truth, the suspension of the moratorium would be a huge step backwards. Opponents, including our organisation, believe the deal would richly reward the whaling nations for their intransigence over the years and risks too much. Without exception, conservation bodies oppose the package, calling it a plan to "save whaling, not whales".

      Other problems include loopholes that would still allow whaling under objection or special permit. There are fears that the lifting of the moratorium will embolden nations like South Korea, which have expressed the desire to resume whaling, to exploit them. The proposal also accepts whaling in the Southern Ocean sanctuary and lacks a sound scientific basis for determining quotas."

      - Save the whales, not the whalers: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627555.800-save-the-whales-not-the-whale...

    • 2 years ago
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