Japan and Iceland have once again failed in their attempts to lift regulations protecting whales, as their proposals to the regulatory body responsible for international trade in endangered species were yesterday resoundingly defeated.
If adopted, Japan and Iceland's proposals to the 2007 meeting of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) could have lead to the resumption of international commercial trade in whale products being permitted for the first time in over 20 years.
The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) has welcomed the decisions, highlighting that if adopted these proposals would have dealt a devastating blow to the commercial whaling ban.
Japan's proposal for CITES to review the status of all great whale species was defeated with the interim result showing 28 votes for and 55 against with 13 abstentions.
Japan had hoped that, following this review, CITES would recommend that the protection currently afforded to some whale species should be relaxed.
Similarly Iceland had proposed that CITES review the protection currently afforded to the North Atlantic fin whale with a view to allowing international trade in the animals which it began hunting commercially last year. A counter proposal from Australia which stated that no review of any great whale, including the fin whale, should occur whilst the International Whaling Commissions commercial whaling ban was in place, was adopted 60 votes for and 23 against, again 13 countries abstained.
