U.S., Japan Discussing Whaling Trade-Off: Report

Chisa Fujioka, PlanetArk 27 Jan 09;

TOKYO - The United States is working on a proposal that would allow Japan to hunt whales near its own shores in exchange for scaling back its Antarctic whale hunt, the Washington Post reported. An official at Japan's Fisheries Agency declined to comment on the report on Monday, which comes as the members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) try to reach a compromise between pro- and anti-whaling nations. Under the draft proposal, Japan would be permitted to engage in coastal whaling near its shores in return for a cut in the number of Antarctic minke whales it culls every year in the Southern Ocean, the Post said.

IWC Chairman William Hogarth had been working on a pact over the weekend, it added.

Such a trade off has been floated in the past.

Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 treaty, with which Japan officially complied. But the Japanese government has continued what it calls a scientific whaling program, the target of criticism from anti-whaling countries such as Australia and Britain.

Japan's whaling fleet is currently engaged in its annual Antarctic whale hunt, aimed at catching about 900 whales.

Japan has frequently threatened to quit the IWC, but it has denied that the country would be better off if the IWC were to collapse. The group is set to hold its 61st annual meeting in Madeira in June.

A senior Japanese fisheries official said last week that the coming year would be "a moment of truth for the IWC" and added that if talks at the body failed, meetings could stop for several years.

Japan in talks on whaling compromise: official
Yahoo News 26 Jan 09;

TOKYO (AFP) – Members of the international whale body are negotiating a compromise to let Japan hunt whales near its shores in exchange for cutting back its Antarctic hunts, an official said Monday.

William Hogarth, the chairman of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and US delegate to the body, told Sunday's Washington Post that he had made the proposal in closed-door weekend talks in Hawaii.

Japan would be allowed to hunt whales near its shores in return for scaling back its Antarctic expeditions in the name of research which have infuriated Australia and New Zealand, the newspaper said.

"It is true that we have had many proposals with members of IWC," Shigeki Takaya, an official in the whaling division of Japan's Fisheries Agency, told AFP. He said the report refers to "one of the proposals being negotiated."

"We need to make a very important decision this year, as it may be the last chance to normalise the IWC," he said.

Japan argues that the IWC should be "normalised" by managing the hunting of whales.

The body imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 but Japan continues to kill whales using a loophole that allows "lethal research" on the ocean giants. Norway and Iceland defy the moratorium altogether.

"We are trying to come up with something substantial at the interim meeting in March," Takaya said, referring to talks to be held in Rome.

The annual IWC gathering for this year is due to be held on the Portuguese island of Madeira from June 22 to 26.

IWC meetings have for years been passionate showdowns pitting Japan, which says whaling is part of its culture, against Australia and other Western nations.

Hogarth, who steps down after the Madeira meeting, persuaded Japan to stay with the IWC and to freeze its plans to expand its slaughter to humpback whales, which are a popular tourist attraction in Australia.

Last week Japan's top whaling negotiator Joji Morishita praised Hogarth's role and warned that the IWC could collapse if the Madeira meeting fails to reach an agreement.