Whales 1; Japan 0

[spindrifter]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4A183103-4091-4EA5-BA92-167CE92A2384.htm

Japan loses key vote on whaling
Friday 16 June 2006, 22:02 Makka Time, 19:02 GMT

Japan has lost a crucial vote at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission that was a setback to its long-term drive to overturn a two-decade-old international ban on commercial whaling.


Japan and other pro-whaling countries failed on Friday to stop the group from discussing the fate of dolphins, porpoises and small whales, which are not covered by the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling but which conservationists say are as threatened as the great whales.

The 32-30 vote against a proposal to remove so-called small cetaceans from the IWC's agenda at a gathering on the Caribbean island state of St Kitts and Nevis was seen as a bellwether of the balance of power at the agency.

<snip>

Japan and other whaling nations such as Norway and Iceland have fought since 1974 to convince the IWC that it should limit its conservationist efforts to large whales, and stop discussing the fate of dolphins and porpoises, which it hunts in large numbers in its coastal waters primarily for food and other products.

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And for those of you into other scores, let's hear a big cheer for Ghana!

[onethatcares]

1. here, here, big cheer for Ghana. but

what does Japan do with all that? Don't get me wrong, but how do you prepare dolphin and porpoises for the table?

[GlenP]

2. Not to mention...

Environmentalists: 1
The Oceans: 1
BioDiversity: 1
The Planet: 1
The future of humanity: 1

Unrestrained-Free-Enterprise Republicans: 0
Fundamentalist-"The planet is humanity's to rape"-Christians: 0
Me-myself-and-my-immediate-future-are-ALL-that-matter-to-me members of the human race: 0


Hmmm.. Any others?

[T_i_B]

3. Is this the Rugby world cup?