Time for peace in the whaling world? (BBC) {long editorial}

[eppur_se_muova]

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website

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Some parties in both pro- and anti-whaling camps have had enough of the deadlock which on one side sees up to 2,500 whales hunted each year under what is supposed to be a global moratorium, and on the other sees little appreciation of the argument that whales are just another natural resource that can be hunted sustainably.
***
As delegates make their way to the Chilean capital Santiago for this year's meeting, which opens on Monday, there are indications that the timing may be right to build bridges across the divide.
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And there is the rub. There are things on which the various camps appear honestly to agree - the need to conserve the iconic blue whale, the need to research potential impacts of climate change - but on hunting, the divide is deep and largely genuine.
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"In the past we had discussions on various proposals but the time was not ripe. I couldn't say that it's fully ripe this time, but all the players and member countries recognise now that if we can't reach some kind of compromise, the IWC will collapse."
***
The anti-whaling bloc would be likely to insist that scientific whaling - under which Japan currently hunts - would be banned, that greater areas of ocean be set aside as whale sanctuaries, that existing sanctuaries be respected, that international observers monitor hunts, that DNA registries of whalemeat be set up, that international trade be banned, and - above all - that the overall number of whales being hunted falls significantly and permanently.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7463633.stm

[flvegan]

1. I could get behind a ban of the "scientific" whaling

as well as the international trade of whale meat.

And, an exploding harpoon that causes a long, agonizing death isn't "hunting".

[struggle4progress]

2. International Whaling Commission to meet in Chile

... the "Buenos Aires Group" .... seeks to establish an ocean domain in which whale hunting is always prohibited and whale-watching tourism encouraged.

"The importance of creating a sanctuary in the south Atlantic will provide protection against the indiscriminate hunting of key species and allow whale-watching in the area, for instance of species like humpback and Pygmy Right whales," Bugeda said.

For the sanctuary proposal to be adopted, it has to garner 75 percent of the votes. A previous attempt failed to reach that bar ...

Chile is also expected to announce a own whale sanctuary in territoral waters it claims up to 4,500 kilometers (2,700 miles) off shore ...

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ji_fARhhf7dHNe-6wwmRtGMMKigg

[struggle4progress]

3. Nations to lock horns on ocean slaughter

AFP
June 23, 2008 12:00am

THE International Whaling Commission will debate resuming commercial whaling this week in Chile.

If the IWC lifts its 12-year ban, it will likely deepen divisions between member states such as Australia, which is opposed to the hunts, and those - chiefly Iceland, Japan and Norway - in favour of whaling.

Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who will attend the talks, says he will stand firm on Australia's opposition to the slaughter of whales for science ...

Japanese delegate to the IWC Joji Morishita did not confirm what specific stance his country would take, beyond reaffirming support for commercial whaling ...

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23904449-663,00.html