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Update : 12.03.09
Final draft by May 18
On the last day of the meeting, IWC Chairman William Hogarth instructed an IWC working group to draw up by May 18 a final draft of an agreement on limiting whale catches by IWC members so it may be adopted at June's plenary IWC session in Madeira, Portugal. Members remained at odds over a proposal to allow Japan to hunt whales in its coastal waters in return for scaling down or ending its whaling in the Antarctic Ocean. South Korea has said it may start commercial whaling if Japan wins the controversial compromise.
Countries unite against whaling
US President Barack Obama's administration has admitted it would firmly oppose whaling, ahead of a three day key international meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which opened Monday March 9 in Rome. Various countries will be discussing the future of commercial and scientific whaling.
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Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality said the Obama administration would wait and see the proposals on the table in Rome but stressed that it is their view that any package, to be acceptable, must result in a significant improvement in the conservation status of whales. |
The US representative to the IWC, William Hogarth, who was appointed by former president George W. Bush, launched a drive earlier this year in Hawaii, to salvage the six-decade-old global body by floating a compromise to let Japan hunt whales near its coast while scaling down its Antarctic hunts. However, US Congressman Nick Rahall, who heads the House Natural Resources Committee and called for Obama to remove Hogarth, applauded the administration for sending "a strong and timely message" against whaling.
"The United States must stand firm, and serve as a model, in its pursuit to support, encourage and convince countries such as Japan, Iceland and Norway who wish to see commercial whaling continue to join the emerging global consensus for whale conservation in the 21st century," Rahall said.
Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett also said ahead of the whaling meeting, that his government is always opposed to commercial whaling and so-called scientific whaling. Japan has repeatedly threatened to leave the IWC if the 84-member body does not shift to what Tokyo believes is its original purpose - managing a sustainable kill of whales.
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