Return to Commercial Whaling Option Rejected for Now at Annual Whaling Meeting

Humane Society International leaders expressed their satisfaction at Wednesday’s withdrawal of a 'compromise' package that would have legitimized commercial whaling, set aside by the delegates at the morning session of the 62nd annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission.
“The proposal was fatally flawed from the beginning, above all because it promised to validate commercial whaling without setting a true deadline for its extinction,” said Kitty Block, vice president of HSI and head of the HSI delegation at Agadir. “There were also significant defects in the alternative plans championed by several nations and non-governmental actors involved in the discussions at IWC 62, and we opposed those for similar reasons.”
But Block cautioned that the deal could resurface later this week in another form, and that HSI would remain vigilant in its efforts to protect the global moratorium on commercial whaling.
Block also noted the strong opening statement of the United States delegation at IWC, which affirmed that “The conservation of whales is paramount to the United States,” and underscored the point that the American government would “not support an agreement at any cost.”