David @ Tokyo

Ambassador Liverpool is adamant that Antigua & Barbuda’s participation in the International Whaling Commission is necessary to build and sustain international alliances with countries that are similarly committed to the sustainable utilisation approach in the management of oceanic resources.

Senator Massiah has also rationalised the Caribbean’s position as one rooted in a number of factors.

“The position taken by Caribbean countries within the IWC remains rooted in respect for cultural diversity, traditions of coastal peoples as well as coastal state rights, relevant national and international laws, the need for science based management, the contribution of marine resources to our respective economies, poverty reduction and food security,” Senator Massiah stated.

Indeed, it's remarkable that the anti-whaling nations continue to fail to recognise this position.

ULSAN, South Korea (AFP): Western governments and environmental groups have threatened and intimidated other states because of their opposition to a ban on commercial whaling, delegates from two Caribbean countries alleged Sunday.

"Dominica... is a country that has been threatened," delegate Lloyd Pascal told reporters in the former South Korean whaling port of Ulsan. "They think they can intimidate us.

"It's not only the NGOs (non-governmental organisations). Governments are sending their envoys to the Caribbean and intimidate our government to tell them that if you don't change your position you're going to risk how much aid... you get from us."

"The islands of the Caribbean have been under tremendous pressure from NGOs because they do not follow the dictates of their instructions at the IWC," he added.

Fisheries Minister Joanne Massiah of Antigua and Barbuda said only that those behind the threats were "governments of the developed world".

"The agenda and the emotive sentiment that are being expressed by the NGOs and the anti-whaling camp are colonialist in nature and patronising in the extreme," she told journalists.

"What we have seen is an effort to stymie our tourism product by a misinformation campaign," she alleged, saying that NGOs were leading the campaign.

Many of Japan's supporters among the small island-developing nation group deeply resent what they claim is bullying and interference in their economic self-determination by wealthy countries.

"It's a privilege of being economically well-off, this failure to understand and accept the cultures of traditional peoples," says Antigua and Barbuda Agriculture and Resources Minister Joanne Massiah. "We forget that 50 million people are starving every day while we look at this issue so flippantly and that marine resources are a critical source of protein."

posted by David  # 9:38 pm