- MUSCAT, Oman (AP) -- A Japanese fishermen's union wants Japan to withdraw
from the International Whaling Commission unless the group lifts its ban
on commercial whaling.
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- The livelihoods of Japanese fishermen
and their families are endangered by the 12-year-old ban, the All Japan
Seamen's Union said Tuesday in a statement during an international whaling
conference.
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- The issue of whether to allow commercial
whaling has caused a deep split among members of the IWC, threatening to
bring down the 50-year-old organization.
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- The five-day whaling conference, which
started Saturday, is debating a proposal by Ireland to allow commercial
whaling in coastal waters up to 320 kilometres offshore, but ban it elsewhere.
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- Anti-whaling nations and groups argue
that whales should continue to be protected, but Japan and Norway want
to resume large-scale hunting of the sea mammals for profit.
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- The Japanese union said whales are now
so plentiful they can be hunted for commerce. If they continue to multiply
freely, they will harm the marine ecosystem because they consume so much
fish, the group said.
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- The commission banned commercial whaling
worldwide in 1986, but allowed traditional hunters to continue killing
whales for subsistence.
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- Six of the world's 11 species of great
whales are classified as endangered or vulnerable.
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- Despite the ban, more than 18,000 whales
have been killed since 1986, and predictions are that another 1,200 will
be killed this year, the World Wildlife Fund said.
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