Pro and anti-whaling nations locked horns on Monday as the International Whaling Commission (IWC) began meeting in Brazil amid outrage over Japan's proposal to end a three-decade moratorium on commercial whale hunting.
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.
More than 120 pregnant whales were slaughtered in the latest Japanese whale hunt in Antarctica's Southern Ocean, new documents show, reigniting calls to step up efforts to stop the annual killing spree. A further 114 immature whales were killed as part of the so-called “scientific” whaling program, according to meeting papers from the International Whaling Commission's scientific committee meeting this month.
Chilean Foreign Minister, Alfredo Moreno, said that Chile will maintain a position “in favour of conservation and against whaling,” and that Chilean Ambassador Cristián Maquieira, though he now chairs the International Whaling Commission, “is not the person who represents Chile” in this forum.
Japan’s Coast Guard has obtained an arrest warrant for the head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, accusing him of ordering members of the protest group to obstruct the Japanese whaling fleet, investigative sources said Friday.
Twelve member countries of the International Whaling Commission (IWC)—an 88-country organization created in 1946 to monitor the whaling industry—have proposed catch quotas for the next ten years for countries that hunt whales.
A new proposal announced last week by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) would allow the killing of a number of whales in the Antarctic Ocean off the coast of Chile and has Chilean environmental groups upset.
The International Whaling Commission unveiled Thursday a draft proposal to bring all whaling operations under its full control and to strengthen and focus the work of the IWC on conservation issues including a compromise proposal which will cut Japan's annual Antarctic quota by three-quarters in five years.