Australia, Japan Discuss Whale Hunt in Southern Ocean

[Coventina]

Source: Bloomberg

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Australian and Japanese government officials discussed a proposal to allow Japan to hunt more whales in the northern Pacific in exchange for ceasing kills near Antarctica, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.

Smith said discussions were held between officials and the International Whaling Commission and there isn’t a proposal before the Australian government. A formal plan would have to be drafted for a meeting of the commission in March, he said.

“Suggestions of this nature have been made at officials level,” Smith told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio when asked about the plan today. “That’s a long way from the government agreeing to them.”

Japan conducts an annual hunt in the northern Pacific and Southern Ocean using a loophole in a 1986 global whaling moratorium that allows “lethal research” on whales. Australia has increased pressure on Japan since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took office in 2007 and sent a customs vessel to monitor the hunt in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aZZ0ZvCSraIM&refer=uk

---

:mad: