Yahoo News 22 May 10;
SAN JOSE (AFP) – Latin American members of the International Whaling Commission said they will propose eliminating a legal loophole that allows whale hunting under the guise of "lethal research" at the next IWC meeting in Morocco in June.
The Buenos Aires Group, in its final declaration after meeting here Thursday, said the compromise solution IWC chairman Cristian Maquieira proposed last month to lower whale catches from 2,000 to 400 a year over 10 years "must be significantly reduced."
The compromise comes amid a feud between Australia and Japan, which kills hundreds of whales in the Pacific and Antarctic oceans yearly, using a loophole in the IWC's 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling that allows "lethal research" on the animals.
Japan argues that whaling is part of its culture and makes no secret that the whale meat winds up on dinner plates.
Norway and Iceland defy the moratorium entirely by informing the IWC that they object to the 1986 decision.
Environmentalists have been scathing over the IWC compromise proposal, saying it would effectively undo the 1986 moratorium that is credited with restoring stocks of the giant mammals.
The Buenos Aires Group said that beside the lethal research loophole, they would also bring up at the June meeting of the 88-nation IWC other dangers to whale populations around the world, including "climate change, marine pollution and incidental capture."
Marquieira, a Chilean, told the Latin American group on Wednesday that whale hunting has not stopped despite the 1986 moratorium and that his plan would save 4,000-5,000 whales over the next ten years.
The Buenos Aires Group in its final declaration issued late Thursday said "over a period of 10 years... there must be a significant and increasing reduction of quotas (catch limits)... until lethal research is completely eliminated.
"This issue is considered indispensable to bring the (Agadir, Morocco) negotiation to a good end."
The Buenos Aires Group comprises Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
The meeting in Santo Domingo de Heredia, near San Jose, was also attended by non-IWC members Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela.
