New Zealand rejects whaling proposal

Wellington - New Zealand on Friday rejected an International Whaling Commission (IWC) proposal that would have authorized whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully told a press conference in the North Island city of Auckland that the proposal was "offensive" and "inflammatory."

"The catch limits proposed in the Southern Ocean are unrealistic," he said. "The proposal to include fin whales in the Southern Ocean is inflammatory. New Zealanders will not accept this," he said.

The IWC proposal, released Thursday, claimed that between 4,000 and 18,000 whales could be saved over the next decade under a compromise that sets lower catch limits for the whaling nations than their own self-imposed quotas.

Japanese whaling in Antarctica would be allowed to continue, but with a reduced quota, and under rigorous monitoring by the IWC.

Japan's current quota of 935 minke whales would be reduced to 410 whales next season and 205 by the 2015-16 season.

The Japanese whaling fleet frequently hunts within the waters of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, an area of 50 million square kilometers surrounding Antarctica where the IWC has in theory banned all commercial whaling.

Tokyo has argued that its whale catch is for scientific not commercial purposes and therefore not affected by the IWC ban, which it also says has no legal basis.

McCully said the government would "fairly urgently" explore how to move negotiations toward New Zealand's objective of eliminating whaling in the Southern Ocean altogether.

Australia is considering taking the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and McCully said that New Zealand might do the same.

"We have made it clear that we are putting our efforts into the diplomatic process and if we don't find a good way forward, then we'll have to consider the ICJ route ourselves," he said.

The IWC will consider the proposal at its next meeting in June.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/320175,new-zealand-rejects-whaling-proposal.html.