David @ Tokyo

IWC 2004: End Moratorium - IWC Chairman
The Khaleej Times is running a story on how ill IWC Chairman Henrik Fischer has issued a call for the commercial whaling moratorium to be lifted within 2 years. He noted that “At present our organisation (the IWC) is not generally seen to be working effectively and indeed the present polarised views and actions, are, I believe, detrimental to conservation”.

In the meantime, some "conservationist" has come out asking "why are countries like Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Mongolia, Gabon, Benin, Grenada and Tuvalu - to name a few - so ignored by the international community that they need to bargain away the future of cetaceans for aid money from Japan?" After so many years of brainwashing by the western media, I guess it is understandable that one could find it all so confusing. To find the answer, one of course only needs to take a step back, and observe that these nations are all voting in line with their belief in the principle that natural resources can and should be sustainably utilised. "Conservationists" seem to have no comprehension of such a simple and natural concept. These nations haven't been ignored, they are just voicing their opinion - just as anti-whaling Switzerland does (and do the Swiss have a coast line? They have the America's Cup I guess, but that's not quite the same...)