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Campaign Whale Press Release – No embargo- Japan has killed almost 20,000 whales during the whaling ban, mostly under the guise of ‘research’
- Japan also kills up to 20,000 smaller whales, dolphins and porpoises each year that they claim are exempted from the IWC’s whaling ban
- The IWC is considering a compromise plan to lift the whaling ban at a special meeting in London next March. Voting could take place by the full Commission in June.
- A meeting will take place in Tokyo in January where compromise proposals will be discussed to ban whaling in the southern hemisphere only. That would allow whaling by Japan, Norway and Iceland to continue under authority of the IWC.
On Sunday 18th November Japan's whaling fleet set sail for the Antarctic aiming to conduct the biggest single whale slaughter since commercial whaling was banned over twenty years ago. The whalers are targeting 1,035 whales for so-called ‘research’, cynically exploiting a legal loophole in the whaling convention.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has repeatedly condemned the hunt, most recently at its annual meeting held in Anchorage last May.
Japan has killed over 10,000 whales for ’research’ since the IWC banned commercial whaling in 1986. All the meat is sold commercially with the choicest cuts an extremely expensive delicacy in Japanese restaurants.
Campaign Whale Press Release
and cities around the world to demand an end to Japan’s dolphin and porpoise hunts. We appreciate this is a working day but please try to attend if you possible can. It is very important that we have a good number of protesters on the day. We will provide you with a placard but please make your own placard or banner and bring it along if you so wish. If you cannot attend please call the Japanese Embassy in London and politely register your protest to:
Ambassador Nogami on 0207 465 6500.
Campaign Whale welcomes the announcement by Fisheries Minister Einar Guofinnsson that the Icelandic Government will not permit more whaling after the current quota expires on August 31. 
"I will not issue a new quota until the market conditions for whale meat improve and permission to export whale products to Japan is secured," he said, "There is no reason to continue commercial whaling if there is no demand for the product."
Iceland resumed commercial whaling last October in defiance of an international moratorium on commercial whaling introduced by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1986.
The government set a quota of 30 minke whales and nine fin whales, listed by the IUCN-World Conservation Union as an endangered species, but whalers have only killed seven minke whales and seven fin whales to date. However, more minke whales are likely to be killed for 'research.'
11th March 2007 
The huge Icelandic Investment company The Baugur Group, which owns many retail outlets in Iceland, has followed up its public statement in January opposing the country''s resumption of commercial whaling by banning the sale of whale products from all its stores in Iceland. Baugur representatives met with Campaign Whale in January to discuss the whaling issue.
This move comes as a further blow to both the Government and the whalers who are having difficulty selling whale meat in Iceland. T he Baugur Group has publicly stated that they see Iceland''s resumption of whaling as a serious threat to Iceland''s business interests abroad.
Campaign Whale is leading a coalition of groups meeting with fish retailers in the UK calling on them to review their fish buying policies and reject claims that whales must be culled to conserve fishstocks. This argument has no scientific credibility whatsoever and we believe the public do not want to buy fish from countries that use this spurious argument to justify the cruel slaughter of whales for profit.
Please see our ''don''t buy your fish from whale killers'' campaign section for further information on how you can help
Special offer to Campaign Whale friends and supporters!
Campaign Whale is delighted to associate with Fluke jewellery - makers of exceptionally beautiful sterling silver jewellery, hand-crafted in the Orkney Islands of Scotland.
This wonderful range of unique jewellery, themed on whales, dolphins and the marine environment, has been made available exclusively to Campaign Whale.
Please visit www.flukejewellery.com to see it for yourself.
Every sale benefits Campaign Whale and our vital work to help protect whales dolphins and porpoises, and the environment .
So, why not look great, for a good cause!