Humpback whales are doomed unless the Australian Government takes legal action against Japan’s scientific whaling program, an international animal rights group says.
Australians for Animals International coordinator Sue Arnold said today Japan’s whaling program Jarpa II could force southern hemisphere humpback whales into extinction if anti-whaling nations failed to take action.
Ms Arnold has slammed the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) meeting in Hobart for its refusal to discuss whaling issues.
She said legal advice provided to her group from international law experts made it “abundantly clear” that Australia could seek legal action only under the CCAMLR convention or the Antarctic treaty system.
The Federal Government has said it would raise the issue in the International Whaling Commission (IWC), but Ms Arnold said the Government knew there was no action available under the IWC.
“The IWC cannot make its recommendations or its resolutions any member country,” she said.
Source: Robyn Grace AAP
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