EP makes plea for whales

Trying to end whale hunting for scientific purposes, the European Parliament has called for a “universal agreement” on whaling.

A present moratorium applies only to commercial whaling but allows what is referred to as ‘lethal sampling’. Parliament is seeking to end this and ban international trade in whale products. Not all countries are signed up to the moratorium. Norway and Iceland still hunt whales commercially — more than a thousand per year according to environmentalist group WWF. Japan says it does it for research but the meat ends up sold and eaten. The European Parliament’s non-binding report calls for humane killing methods, quotas, strict controls and sanctuaries.More about: WWF

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