International whaling conference begins in Peru
Published: Monday, Sep 23rd 2024, 18:10
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The 69th conference of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has begun in the Peruvian capital Lima. Around 400 delegates from 88 countries are discussing the protection of marine mammals until Friday.
Switzerland is also a member of the IWC. The European Union wants to strengthen the whaling moratorium on large whales that has been in place since 1986 with a resolution. Environmentalists fear that the whaling ban could be overturned. A resolution recognizing the contribution of whaling to food security will also be discussed in Lima. Currently, only Japan, Norway and Iceland still engage in commercial whaling.
"The whaling camp argues that countries where whaling has never played a role should now start hunting whales to meet the protein needs of their populations," said Maximin Djondo of the Swiss-based marine conservation organization Ocean Care. "This narrative is deeply misleading and must be firmly rejected: Whales are not a food source in most regions of the world. For coastal communities and seafaring nations, whales are more valuable alive than dead, including for the tourism sector."
Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, on the other hand, want to reapply to the conference for the creation of a protected area for whales in the South Atlantic. The South American countries have been campaigning for this for over 15 years, but have always failed to achieve the required three-quarters majority. It would be the world's third whale sanctuary after one in the Antarctic and one in the Indian Ocean.
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