possible return to commercial whaling

It is being reported that the International Whaling Commission meeting this week could bring about a return to commercial whaling.

www.independent.co.uk...

The moratorium on commercial whaling, one of the world's major environmental achievements, is in danger of being abandoned after 24 years at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which begins this week in Morocco.


A proposed new deal, which stands a realistic chance of being passed at the conference in Agadir, would allow the three countries which have continued killing the great whales in defiance of the ban – Japan, Norway and Iceland – to recommence whaling legally in return for bringing down their catches.

This deal seems to have been cooked up by American politicians as a bargaining chip to allow Alaskan Inuit People to continue their hunting.

This is ridiculous and is playing politics with the natural world...

Of course the Inuit’s should be allowed to hunt... they hunt the whale because it is a key part of their culture... they hunt in a traditional way in small wooden boats and only kill 50 whales per year, The Whale is a vital source of protein to the Inuit and is central to their culture and way of life. Most importantly, their way is sustainable!

Compare this to the commercial whaling fleets of Japan and Norway that use large commercial whaling vessels with explosive tipped harpoons!!
Now it could be argued that whaling is part of the whaling country’s traditions... which is true... but the key difference is that the Japanese/Norwegian/Icelandic way of life will not be destroyed by a continued ban on whaling... For the Inuit’s it would spell disaster!!

The Japanese, Icelanders and the Norwegians are simply playing politics and, unfortunately, Senator Ted Stevens fell for it and helped to construct this deal.

Why oh why cannot common sense prevail... basically the Whaling countries are angry/jealous that a few intuits’ are allowed to hunt 50 whales a year and so jump up and down like little children to demand a return to the slaughter of thousands of whales that we witnessed in the 80's.


As leading Whale expert Justin Cooke put it...

"The proposal is disingenuous and I suspect that it will fool many people." It was a scam, he said, in which the calculation of how many whales could be killed was being left to politicians rather than scientists.


How very true!


[edit on 1-6-2010 by Muckster]