Post by Argo on Feb 17, 2006 3:51:18 GMT -5
AUSTRALIA is facing an uphill battle in its continuing struggle to prevent a resumption of commercial whaling following its win last year, Environment Minister Ian Campbell has warned.
Senator Campbell said today the anti-whaling nations had achieved a very narrow victory despite a majority held by the pro-whaling countries like Japan on the floor of last year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) annual conference in Ulsan, Korea.
Whether the anti-whaling countries can repeat their success will be put to the test at an inter-sessional meeting of the IWC in Cambridge, England, later this month.
The meeting was called to discuss a proposed revised management scheme (RMS) being promoted for a resumption of commercial harvesting of whales.
"I really do think there's a serious chance that Iceland, Norway and Japan will have the numbers to defeat our pro-conservation majority we achieved last year in Korea," Senator Campbell told reporters.
"We are working very hard to stop that from happening."
He said "the cold hard reality" was that it would be very, very hard to repeat the win at Ulsan, but added: "It is our aim to do that."
"We want to use the opportunity to point out how flawed the science is," he said.
"The science that the promoters of the RMS are using ... would not pass muster for a cod fishery."
However, the key test will be the IWC annual meeting in the Caribbean in June.
Senator Campbell said Japan's scientific whaling had created a massive stockpile of whale meat through killing 440 minke whales a year for a decade, supposedly for scientific research, although some was even sold as pet food.
Japan had more than doubled its catch this year to 935 minkes but he said there was no evidence to show any scientific benefit in catching 935 minkes per season as Japan was now doing in the Antarctic.
"The result is not going to be a benefit to science, it is not going to be a benefit to mankind. The only benefit it would seem would be to the dog owners of Japan," he said.
Heading Australia's push for a continuation of a moratorium on commercial whaling and an eventual ban on all scientific and commercial whaling will be new International Whaling Commissioner Howard Bamsey.
Mr Bamsey, who accompanied the minister, told reporters Australia had consistently stated its opposition to any management plan which he described as "a vehicle for commercial whaling."
"It is very important for us to make clear at the meeting in Cambridge that the sort of proposals that are being discussed now ... are woefully inadequate by the standards of similar management schemes adopted in modern fisheries organisations."
dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,18166390-5001028,00.html
Senator Campbell said today the anti-whaling nations had achieved a very narrow victory despite a majority held by the pro-whaling countries like Japan on the floor of last year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) annual conference in Ulsan, Korea.
Whether the anti-whaling countries can repeat their success will be put to the test at an inter-sessional meeting of the IWC in Cambridge, England, later this month.
The meeting was called to discuss a proposed revised management scheme (RMS) being promoted for a resumption of commercial harvesting of whales.
"I really do think there's a serious chance that Iceland, Norway and Japan will have the numbers to defeat our pro-conservation majority we achieved last year in Korea," Senator Campbell told reporters.
"We are working very hard to stop that from happening."
He said "the cold hard reality" was that it would be very, very hard to repeat the win at Ulsan, but added: "It is our aim to do that."
"We want to use the opportunity to point out how flawed the science is," he said.
"The science that the promoters of the RMS are using ... would not pass muster for a cod fishery."
However, the key test will be the IWC annual meeting in the Caribbean in June.
Senator Campbell said Japan's scientific whaling had created a massive stockpile of whale meat through killing 440 minke whales a year for a decade, supposedly for scientific research, although some was even sold as pet food.
Japan had more than doubled its catch this year to 935 minkes but he said there was no evidence to show any scientific benefit in catching 935 minkes per season as Japan was now doing in the Antarctic.
"The result is not going to be a benefit to science, it is not going to be a benefit to mankind. The only benefit it would seem would be to the dog owners of Japan," he said.
Heading Australia's push for a continuation of a moratorium on commercial whaling and an eventual ban on all scientific and commercial whaling will be new International Whaling Commissioner Howard Bamsey.
Mr Bamsey, who accompanied the minister, told reporters Australia had consistently stated its opposition to any management plan which he described as "a vehicle for commercial whaling."
"It is very important for us to make clear at the meeting in Cambridge that the sort of proposals that are being discussed now ... are woefully inadequate by the standards of similar management schemes adopted in modern fisheries organisations."
dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,18166390-5001028,00.html
