WHALE conservation, rather than whaling, is now the main objective of the International Whaling Commission. This follows a decision by the IWC at its annual meeting in Berlin this week to adopt a controversial proposal that changes its very nature. Ironically, however, the agreement could provoke pro-whaling nations to quit the commission and resume commercial whaling.
By a vote of 25 to 20, with one abstention, member nations agreed to a proposal by anti-whaling nations, dubbed the “Berlin initiative”. It is designed to change an organisation created in 1946 to regulate the hunting of whales into one committed to their…
