The International Whaling Commission’s week-long annual plenary ended on Friday with a ban on commercial hunting in place for another year but nations bitterly divided over aboriginal whaling.
Swedish chairman Bo Fernholm called the meeting to a close after thanking the Japanese hosts for their gracious hospitality in this former whaling port.
”Thank you to all of you, arigato gozaimasu (thank you very much, in Japanese). The meeting is closed,” he said shortly after 5:00 pm (0800 GMT).
Observers said the meeting was the most divisive in years after Tokyo led a bloc of mainly Caribbean nations in defeating the renewal of an aboriginal whaling quota for northern natives in Alaska and northeastern Russia.
Japan argued its longstanding request for 50 minke whales for hard-hit Japanese coastal communities was equal in merit to aboriginal takes and did not deserve to be rejected.
Delegation members accused each other of lying, of breaking backroom deals and destroying the credibility of the commission.
”I think it’s been extremely fractious,” said UK commissioner Richard Cowan. ”I said I wondered where honour stood in this organisation.”
Japan’s perennial proposal to lift the commercial ban in place since the 1985-86 season was easily defeated by 16-25 on Thursday, far short of the three-quarters majority needed for it to be passed.
Conservationists were unable to declare complete victory, however, as proposals to create new whale sanctuaries in the southern Pacific and southern Atlantic oceans also foundered.
Next year’s annual meeting will be held in Berlin. – Sapa-AFP