Compromise Would Legalize Commercial Whaling

Posted on Jun 21, 2010

Flickr / Duchamp (CC-BY)

The international community has totally failed to convince Japan, Iceland and Norway to stop hunting whales, including those facing extinction. A new proposal would allow the rogue nations to drop the pretense of scientific research in exchange for a reduction in kills, but environmentalists are skeptical.

AP via Google:

IWC Chairman Cristian Maquieira published his proposal in April to bring the three whaling nations back under the agency’s control by allowing them to hunt commercially under closely monitored quotas.

Advocates say 5,000 whales will be saved over the 10-year life of the deal. Opponents question that claim, and say the proposal would legitimize hunting for profit and throw a lifeline to a dying industry that has constant confrontations with environmental groups on the world’s oceans.

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