INTERVIEW-Australia says courts an option on Japan whaling
24 Jun 2008 17:27:27 GMT Source: Reuters
By Simon Gardner and Amy Hickson SANTIAGO, June 24 (Reuters) - Spearheading a drive to halt scientific and commercial whaling, Australia on Tuesday urged world No.1 whaler Japan to halt the practice and warned it could ultimately resort to legal action. However Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett offered Japan an olive branch, saying he wanted to give a chance for dialogue at a International Whaling Commission meeting this week in the Chilean capital. "We don't believe that there's a valid scientific justification for killing whales in the name of science," Garrett told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the meeting. "If there's going to be a debate about scientific whaling, let it be on the basis of credible, agreed and rigorous science," said Garrett, the former frontman of anti-establishment rock group Midnight Oil. Japan officially halted commercial whaling in 1986 in line with a moratorium, but started "scientific research whaling" the following year and assigned itself an annual quota of 1,000 whales. Whale meat is served in restaurants and sold on supermarket shelves in Japan, and conservationists say the country is simply exploiting a loophole and is actually still whaling commercially by another name. CULTURAL TRADITION? Japan argues whaling is a cultural tradition of its coastal communities and wants sustainable commercialization of the world's biggest mammals. It wants permission to resume commercial whaling in coastal areas -- something Australia is striving to block. "There's always the option for legal action at some point," said Garrett. "But we're focusing on what happens in Santiago, and we want the discussions to be constructive." "We recognize that there's been much acrimony in the past, and in order to have an environment which is conducive to serious discussion, let us participate in this process cooperatively." Japan says anti-whaling organizations and nations like Australia are acting emotionally, and denies it is whaling for the meat -- a traditional delicacy in Japan. Australia wants Japan to look to the example of other nations, like those in Latin America, and turn to whale tourism instead. The global whale watching industry brings in around $1 billion a year in revenues across some 90 countries. "For many developing countries, and developed nations as well, the prospects for sustainable economies that are based on watching whales and enjoying these creatures' recovery in the natural environment, is an economic opportunity that we need to contemplate," said Garrett. "As a musician, I absolutely appreciated the magnificence and the beauty and the fragility of these creatures in their ocean environment, and they happen to be particularly good singers as well," he added. "They need our respect." And is there any chance of a Midnight Oil reunion single to promote whale conservation? "There will be many people who make great music about these issues and these matters. I look forward to hearing them do their work. I'm here to do mine."(Editing by Sandra Maler)
Environmentalists gather to make the shape of a blue whale and the word Sanctuary on the grass at Parque O'Higgins in Santiago June 22, 2008. An International Whaling Commission meeting in ...
