2 pro-whaling countries join IWC
(Kyodo) - Two countries supporting Japan's bid to resume commercial whaling -- the Marshall Islands and Cambodia -- have joined the International Whaling Commission ahead of its decision-making plenary session June 16-20, sources close to the commission said Monday.
As the admissions have brought the number of IWC members to 69, Japan's most optimistic projections put the number of countries supporting its bid to 36, with 32 against and the stance of one unknown.
Japan is now confident that the pro-whaling camp is about to secure a majority.
If this happens at this year's meeting in the Caribbean island state of St. Kitts and Nevis, Japan aims to propose scrapping the Conservation Committee, officials of Japan's Fisheries Agency said earlier.
The Conservation Committee was set up in 2003 to study measures to conserve whales.
If a pro-whaling majority is established, Japan also hopes to propose taking a vote on a resolution supporting its research whaling in the Antarctic Sea and elsewhere, they said.
Anti-whaling countries, notably Australia, the United States and Britain, are expected to oppose these moves.
A simple majority would be insufficient to lift the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling, which requires approval by three-quarters of the members.
But it would allow whale-hunting countries to take control of the meetings through agenda-setting and passage of nonbinding resolutions.
All of Japan's proposals were voted down at last year's meeting in Ulsan, South Korea. They included one that would have paved the way for controlled commercial whaling.
Japan halted commercial whaling in line with the 1986 IWC moratorium but has been conducting what it calls research whaling since 1987.
As the admissions have brought the number of IWC members to 69, Japan's most optimistic projections put the number of countries supporting its bid to 36, with 32 against and the stance of one unknown.
Japan is now confident that the pro-whaling camp is about to secure a majority.
If this happens at this year's meeting in the Caribbean island state of St. Kitts and Nevis, Japan aims to propose scrapping the Conservation Committee, officials of Japan's Fisheries Agency said earlier.
The Conservation Committee was set up in 2003 to study measures to conserve whales.
If a pro-whaling majority is established, Japan also hopes to propose taking a vote on a resolution supporting its research whaling in the Antarctic Sea and elsewhere, they said.
Anti-whaling countries, notably Australia, the United States and Britain, are expected to oppose these moves.
A simple majority would be insufficient to lift the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling, which requires approval by three-quarters of the members.
But it would allow whale-hunting countries to take control of the meetings through agenda-setting and passage of nonbinding resolutions.
All of Japan's proposals were voted down at last year's meeting in Ulsan, South Korea. They included one that would have paved the way for controlled commercial whaling.
Japan halted commercial whaling in line with the 1986 IWC moratorium but has been conducting what it calls research whaling since 1987.
1 comment:
Cambodia is to be congratulated for their upcoming support for the principle of sustainable use.
I cover this issue extensively on my own blog, if you are interested
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