US supports whale-hunting proposal

A meeting on global whaling headed into its final day amid controversy as the US threw its support behind a proposal on how to manage whale-hunting if a 1986 ban on commercial whaling were to be lifted.

The US proposed a resolution to endorse the measures late yesterday at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Sorrento, a sea resort in southern Italy.

The resolution, also backed by Japan and Iceland of the pro-whaling bloc, was to be voted on today. It requires a simple majority to be approved.

It says that any failure to reach broad agreement on a management scheme “would jeopardise the ability of the IWC to fulfil its responsibility of ensuring the effective conservation of whale stocks and the responsible management of whaling”.