Australia said yesterday it hoped to close a loophole in International Whaling Commission (IWC) rules that allows Japan to conduct whaling as long as it is carried out for scientific research.
Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett said Australia would present a proposal to an IWC meeting in London this week setting out new rules for scientific programs carried out under commission rules.
NON-LETHAL METHODS
He said the new rules would favor non-lethal methods and strengthen IWC supervision of whale research, making it a collaborative international effort rather than having individual countries carry out their own programs.
"Australia is full bore in our opposition to the killing of whales in the name of science," Garrett said.
Under the rules introduced in 1986, commercial whaling is banned but the giant mammals can be killed for scientific research purposes.
Japan kills up to 1,000 whales annually under its scientific program, although it concedes that most of the meat ends up on dinner plates.
The issue has created tension between Tokyo and Canberra, which opposes whaling and this year dispatched a ship to monitor Japan's whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.
It has also led to high-seas confrontations between whalers and environmentalists determined to stop the cull.
SCALING DOWN
Garrett said Japan may scale down its whaling program if it could no longer argue it was legitimate scientific research carried out under IWC rules.
He said the IWC could oversee robust scientific programs aimed at whale conservation and "not simply signing off on the killing of whales in the name of science."
"It can start to use science and [address] the great concern Australians and many other people in the world have about the death of these whales, and develop conservation as a major ambition for the commission," Garrett said.
Japan says its whaling is legal and part of its culture and accuses Western countries, led by Australia, of insensitivity.
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‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
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