Pro- and anti-whaling nations are set for a showdown when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meets in Brazil from Monday as Japan leads an assault on a three-decade old moratorium on commercial whale hunting. Tokyo heads into the biennial meeting as chair of the 88-nation body determined
Pro- and anti-whaling nations are set for a showdown when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meets in Brazil from Monday as Japan leads an assault on a three-decade old moratorium on commercial whale hunting.
Tokyo heads into the biennial meeting as chair of the 88-nation body determined to shake-up what it says is a dysfunctional organization mired in dispute and unable to make key decisions.
But Japan’s package of proposals, entitled « The Way Forward, » has left conservationists seething even before delegates have taken their seats at the 67th IWC meeting in the Brazilian surfing resort of Florianapolis.
They say it’s a blatant attempt to overturn the 1986 moratorium and restore commercial whaling.
« This meeting is critical, » said Patrick Ramage of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
« Member countries must stand together and push progress towards whale protection, not let this commission be pulled back into the bygone era of commercial whaling. »
Brazil as host country is instead trying to rally anti-whaling nations behind a « Florianopolis Declaration, » which insists that commercial whaling is no longer a necessary economic activity and would allow the recovery of all whale populations to pre-industrial whaling levels.
Other key issues being discussed in the week-long meeting are risks to whales of human-made underwater noise pollution, ship strikes, climate change and « ghost-gear » entanglement — where whales are increasingly snared by abandoned fishing gear.
