Denmark withdraws quota request at IWC
NEWS ON THE VOTE AT International Whaling Commission - 8.45PM (GMT + 1) THURSDAY 26TH JUNE 2008
The Decision - Denmark's quota request has been withdrawn by them. This follows the defeat in a vote for their amendment to catch less fin whales and replace these with 10 humpbacks. Denmark has said it will not pursue its original proposal this year, but bring them back to the next IWC meeting in a year.
Claire Bass of WSPA, comments from the IWC meeting:
"This is fantastic news as fewer whales will be cruelly killed. WSPA's investigation has given the IWC the information it needed to see through the myths of Greenlandic whaling and make the right decision. This is a significant victory in a bigger campaign to end the slaughter of whales globally and we will continue in our campaign to end all whaling."
ENDS
Notes for
journalists:
- WSPA recently released the results of an
investigation that showed 25% of Greenland's whales are sold
commercially and result in significant profit.
- WSPA's
undercover investigation revealed commercial intentions
behind some of Greenland's whaling and provided IWC
commissioners with the information they needed to vote
against an increase in the country's quota. The report has
also raised calls within the IWC for the distinction between
aboriginal subsistence whaling and commercial whaling to be
properly enforced, preventing an erosion of the worldwide
commercial whaling ban which has been in place since
1986.