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Enewsletter2009-06-28
New York Times Calls For Opposition To Greenlandic Whaling Claim
The New York Times editorial has come out against whaling. Importantly, it has also come out in support of WDCS's campaign against the expansion of Greenland's whaling.The New York Times reports as of the 27th June, 'At this point in its troubled history, it appears that the main function of the International Whaling Commission, which met last week on the Portuguese island of Madeira, is to ensure its own survival — and with it, the survival of a 40-year-old loophole-ridden “ban” on commercial whaling that is not really a ban at all.
Only a few seagoing nations
kill whales; Japan, Iceland and Norway are the most important. Japan
exploits a loophole that allows killing whales for scientific research.
Iceland and Norway simply ignore the ban, without penalty. Most other
nations are opposed to whaling, yet the lobbying to grant more
exceptions continues.
This year, Greenland, with heavy backing from Denmark, asked permission to kill 50 endangered humpback whales over the next five years. A decision was postponed until the next meeting. The commission and its members should use the time to think not only about Greenland’s request but about the treaty itself — and whether the time has come to ban all whaling for any purpose.
Greenland said it wanted the endangered humpbacks for aboriginal subsistence — to feed its indigenous population. Minor exceptions to the ban have in fact been granted for subsistence and cultural hunting. But in Denmark’s case, as conservation groups rightly noted, this was thinly disguised cover for commercial whaling.'The full piece can be found here
