Australia wants Japan to call off humpback hunt

Australia wants Japan to call off humpback hunt

MR.RUDD, no need to monitor their whale hunting.present them some torpedo if the continue.

Time for Robotic Kitty

Maybe they should send all their live Cats and Dogs to China (you know why) and replace them with little robotic ones that don’t need to be feed Humpback whale meat. Think of all the green-house gas that would reduce!

Either that or just: Require Japan Change the Scientific study to: Harpoon 1 Boat Captain for each Whale Killed .. Just to see how it effects the fishing industry around the world.

Fearless W savin' the whales!...
:cool:
US Pushes Japan to Halt Whale Hunt
Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007 — The United States is pushing Japan to suspend its hunt of humpback whales, and the American ambassador to Tokyo said Wednesday an agreement to stop it may have already been reached.

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Japan dispatched its whaling fleet last month to the Southern Pacific in the first major hunt of humpbacks since the 1960s. Commercial hunts of humpbacks have been banned worldwide since 1966. Word of a possible delay in the hunt came as the Australian government said it would send planes and a ship to conduct surveillance of Japanese whaling ships off Antarctica.

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer said Japanese and U.S. negotiators were working on an American demand that the hunt — part of a scientific research program allowed under international rules — be halted. “I think we had an agreement this morning or last night between the United States and Japan that humpback whales would not be harvested, I think, until maybe the international whaling conference in June," Schieffer said.

Because of the migration patterns of the whales, such a delay until the next annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission would mean “that it’ll be awhile before they’re at risk again," he said. A Japanese official said there was no written agreement to halt the hunt, but acknowledged that Tokyo could be considering changes to its whaling program in light of the fierce international opposition to the hunt.

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Japan 'backs down on humpback hunt'
December 19, 2007 - JAPAN has apparently agreed not to kill humpback whales during its current Antarctic hunt, the US ambassador to Tokyo said today, a move that could help ease criticism of its controversial whaling program.

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Japan’s whaling fleet set sail last month with plans to catch more than 1000 whales, including 50 humpbacks, which are popular among whale-watchers for their distinctive silhouettes and acrobatic leaps, before returning to port early next year. Humpbacks were hunted to near extinction until the International Whaling Commission ordered their protection in 1966 and the planned hunt had sparked a loud outcry from activists.

“I think we had an agreement ... between the United States and Japan that humpback whales would not be harvested, I think, until maybe the International Whaling Conference in June,'' US ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer said. Because of migration patterns, the delay would mean it would be “a while before they are at risk again,'' Mr Schieffer said.

Australia today announced that it would send a fisheries patrol ship to shadow Japan’s whaling fleet near Antarctica and gather evidence for a possible international court challenge to halt the yearly hunt. Separately, Greenpeace sent a ship today to try to stop the Japanese fleet hunting whales.

Japan has long resisted pressure to stop what it calls scientific whaling, insisting that whaling is a cherished cultural tradition. “Japan’s whaling is being conducted in line with international treaties and for the purpose of scientific research. We would like to win the understanding of others,'' a Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said in Tokyo.

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