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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Japan clashed with anti-whaling nations on Wednesday over its proposal to allow four of its small coastal villages to hunt whales, and postponed a decision to bring the matter to a vote.
At the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting, Japan argued that its proposal to catch minke whales should fall under the umbrella of community whaling because whaling has been part of its culture for thousands of years. Opponents say that is merely commercial whaling in disguise.
Joji Morishita, the deputy whaling commissioner, said Japan supported the extension of aboriginal whaling quotas for Alaska Natives Tuesday and asked the organisation for "consistency" in considering its proposal.
"We are not asking for a lifting of the moratorium," Morishita said in the meeting. "If you create exemptions to only our proposal, then you are sending a very bad message."
Anti-whaling nations said Japan's proposal to allow small-type coastal whaling is different from aboriginal whaling, because it does not meet the same cultural or subsistence criteria.
Japan was expected to request a vote on its minke whale proposal on Wednesday, but after both sides debated the issue, Japan asked to postpone its decision to take a vote.
Vassili Papastavrou, a whale biologist for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said the postponement was the "strongest sign" of a possible backroom deal to secure 75 per cent of the votes needed to enact the proposal.
Earlier in the week, anti-whaling nations said it would not negotiate with Japan on its proposal, even if Japan compromised on its plan to hunt 50 humpback whales next year as part of its scientific research programme.
"If we conceded this proposal, delegates should be in no doubt that we would, in fact, concede the principal of a return to commercial whaling. We cannot do that and we must not," said Barry Gardiner, Britain's biodiversity minister.
Japan, which leads the pro-whaling bloc and has gathered support from African, Caribbean and some Asian nations, is allowed to take more than 1000 whales for scientific research. Critics say most of the meat ends up at supermarkets and restaurants and it rarely publishes its findings.
Japan's proposal would, if passed, reduce the number of minke whales caught under its scientific research programme so not to cause a net increase of whales caught.
Pro-whaling and anti-whaling nations also butted heads on Wednesday over a proposal raised by Brazil and Argentina to create a whale sanctuary in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
Every year since 1998, Brazil has proposed the creation of a whale sanctuary that would extend from the east coast of South America to the west coast of Africa.
A majority supported the sanctuary proposal, but again it failed to get 75 per cent of the vote needed to pass.
Two sanctuaries exist in the Indian Ocean and the Antarctic, or Southern, Ocean.
Of the 77-member nations in the International Whaling Commission, 39 members voted for Brazil's proposal versus 29 against. Other members abstained or did not pay dues in time to have voting rights.
The proponents of a sanctuary said a whaling-free zone provides much-needed protection to foster a whale watching industry, which anti-whaling nations argue is more lucrative than killing whales for commercial purposes.
- REUTERS
