JAPAN: IWC members meet in Japan to push for the resumption of commercial whaling amid a multi-nation boycott.

A special meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has started, with host Japan and like-minded countries hoping the gathering will build momentum to resume commercial hunting of whales, but most anti-whaling countries have boycotted the talks. A special meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) began on Tuesday (February 13), with host Japan and like-minded countries hoping the gathering will build momentum to resume commercial hunting of the giant mammals. Japan wants to shift the commission's focus to whale management rather than a moratorium, but with some 26 anti-whaling nations -- including Australia, New Zealand and the United States -- boycotting the meeting, prospects for dialogue in the polarised organisation appear slim. Thirty-four of the commission's 72 members were attending and another two expected to show up at the three-day meeting, which Japanese officials have termed a final attempt to save the commission by drafting proposals to submit at its annual meeting in May. Minoru Morimoto, the commissioner for Japan, told Reuters: "There's no room for discussion at IWC meetings because they just meet and vote without actually talking about issues. We are here trying to change that nature and make the IWC work in a way similar to other international organizations." Morimoto added that he hoped the commission would at its May meeting seriously consider normalisation, a Japanese code word for resuming commercial hunting. "It was supposed to be an open meeting for everyone to get together to discuss rather than being stuck in the same discussion on the substantive point, and discuss how can we move beyond this, how can we live with the disagreements that we have," said Stefan Asmundsson, who is representing Iceland, lamenting the decision by most of the anti-whaling nations to boycott this meeting. "If half the membership does not want to have that dialogue, then I would agree that this meeting is not likely to able to solve it because we are not going to solve it in a one-sided way." Ahead of the meeting, a Japanese whaling ship and protest vessels collided in the Southern Ocean. The protesters said they would next ram a Japanese factory ship, despite Australian calls for them to back off before someone was killed. In Tokyo, three anti-whaling protesters, including a man wearing a mask of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's face, carried a signboard saying "Welcome to the commercialisation meeting". One activist was dressed as a weeping whale. Pasted to the sign were 10,000 yen (82 U.S. dollars) notes and names of several countries, an allusion to charges by anti-whalers that Japan had bought pro-whaling votes at the IWC with foreign aid. Japan has repeatedly denied the allegations. The IWC instituted a commercial whaling ban in 1986. But the group is now bitterly divided between countries that assert all whales need protection and others, like Japan, that say some species are now abundant enough for limited hunting. Japan, which says whaling is a cherished cultural tradition, began scientific research whaling in 1987. The meat, which under commission rules must be sold for consumption, ends up in supermarkets and pricey restaurants but is far from a daily menu choice.

ITN Source | February 13, 2007

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