Japan and other whaling nations managed to get the International Whaling Commission, which met in the island state of St Kitts and Nevis, the Caribbean, to criticize the whaling ban imposed by the 1986 global moratorium on commercial whaling, signing a pro-whaling resolution which was passed by 33 votes to 32.


The resolution basically promoted the idea that the ban on whale hunting was no longer necessary and it is unprecedented in more than two decades.

Some of the reasons why this resolution was agreed upon are actually mentioned within its text. It says that whales have caused a massive depletion in the global fish stocks, while pointing the finger at the non-governmental organizations for carrying a moral responsibility in protecting the whales.

On the other hand, the environmentalists expressed their massive concerns with regard to the vote, which represents a "huge disaster", as Kitty Block of Human Society International described it. "This is now going to be their propaganda", she added.

Given the gravity of this matter, Australia assured everyone present that it would help to fight this resolution, Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell declaring that this pro-whaling resolution has a non-binding character which means that "it does not have any effect" on the global moratorium that bans commercial whaling, reached upon twenty years ago.

Moreover, Campbell stated that Australia would strive to form what it labeled as a "magnificent coalition" of nations that would somehow reverse Japan and other states' drive towards the resumption of the commercial hunt of whales.