With the start of the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, it is timely to revisit the issue of whaling and New Zealand’s recent attempt at a compromise position.
A few years ago New Zealand tried to broker a deal to allow the Japanese to whale, but with a decreasing quota. The aim of the New Zealand position was to allow the Japanese an honourable exit from the practice, which is now uneconomic because so few Japanese still eat whale. One reason that the Japanese keep whaling might simply be a stubborn dislike of being dictated to by West, particularly when our moral high ground is so shaky.
Find out more about the New Zealand position by watching the video we made with our current International Whaling Commissioner Gerard van Bohemen and The Morgan Foundations Geoff Simmons.
Ultimately our idea got stymied by some environmental campaigners and Western governments. Was New Zealand right to suggest this idea in the first place? Have we missed a golden opportunity to end whaling? Sound off below.
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