Compromise on Whale Hunting Fails to Win Approval at IWC Meeting

A proposal to curb whale hunts hit an impasse during international talks as whaling nations and anti-whaling delegates failed to reach a compromise over just how many whales could be killed annually. At a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Morocco, delegates from whaling nations said a proposal to lift a moratorium on commercial whaling in exchange for strict quotas was a backdoor effort to ban the practice. While a ban on whaling has been in place for 24 years, three nations — Japan, Norway, and Iceland — have continued to hunt whales. Some commission members hoped that imposing limits would allow the IWC to control the limited whale hunting. “We still haven’t got a consensus resolution,” said Geoffrey Palmer, head of the New Zealand delegation. “There is an absence of political will to bridge the gaps and to compromise.” Some environmental groups opposed the compromise plan, saying it could eventually lead to the return of full-scale industrial whaling. One IWC delegate said talks on the compromise were suspended until the commission meets again in 2011.