P732 CEEFAX 732 Fri 20 May 21:02/04 1/7 Alex Kirby reports on Whaling Commission meeting in Mexico: The International Whaling Commission holds its annual meeting in Mexico from 23 to 27 May. Strong pressure to allow commercial whaling again will conj from Japan and Norway. The third nation that wants to hunt whales, Iceland, left the IWC two years ago, but might seek to rejoin Read Hear 710 Eco Index 730 Community 720 Religion 740 Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo ReligionP732 CEEFAX 732 Fri 2X May 21:10/19 E Alex Kirby reports on Whaling Commission meeting in Mexico: $5 $hj Commission was set up in 1946 to presjrvj whaling. But most of its mjmbjrs now want it to preserve the whales themselves. In 1988 a moratorium on commercial whaling came into force. Even though any member is still allowed to catch unlimited numbers of any whale species in the name of scientific research. Read Hear 710 Eco Index 730 Community 720 Religion 740 Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo ReligionP732 CEEFAX 732 Fri 20 May 21:13/21 3/7 Alex Kirby reports on Whaling Commission meeting in Mexico: The whaling nations say there are enough whales of several species, especially the minkj. This is the smallest of the 12 great whales, reaching about ten mjttes in maturity. It is found off parts of the British coast, and in the Antarctic it is thought to number around 750,000. Read Hear 710 Eco Index 730 Community 720 Religion 740 Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo ReligionP732 CEEFAX 732 Fri 20 May 21:14/13 4/7 Alex Kirby reports on the Whaling Commission meeting in Mexico: But their opponents say most species are still seriously endangered. The blue whale, the largest creature ever to have lived on earth, is recovering only very slowly, if at all, after centuries of hunting. The Russians disclosed this year thbt during the 60s and 70s Soviets had killed far more whales than allowed by IWC quotas, which may help to explain their slow recovery Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo ReligionP732 CEEFAX 732 Fri 20 May 21:17/24 5/7 Alex Kirby reports on the Whaling Commission meeting in Mexico: There is also a fear that allowing the hunting of minkju could open the door to an illegal trade in other species. (hj meat from different sorts of whale can bj distinguished using DNA techniques. But few customs officers would bj able to tell at a glance whether a consignment came from a blue whale, a sperm, a humpback or a minkj. 710 Read Hear Religion 740 720 Community User Guide 99 Next Page Read Hear Cmnt9Info ReligionP732 CEEFAX 732 Fri 20 May 21:14/11 E Alex Kirby reports on the Whaling Commission meeting in Mexico: Many IWC members say they will never agree to renewed hunting "5 until there is a humane way of killing the whales. The animals often take minuter to die after being hit by an explosive-tipped harpoon. Some have thrashed around for almost an hour. 710 Read Hear Religion 740 720 Community User Guide 199 Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo ReligionP732 CEEFAX 732 Fri 20 May 21:23/27 7/7 I Alex Kirby reports on thu Wh1fin7 Commission meeting in Mexico: And there is the argument that whales are highly intelligent and social animals, which we have no need and no right to kill - something the whalers do not accept (here will also be a debate over a proposal, supported by Britain, to declare the Antarctic a whale sanctuary. Japan, which wants to hunt minter there, says it will oppose it. 710 Read Hear Religion 0740 720 Community User Guide 199 Next Page Read Hear CmntyInfo Religion