There has been a 25 year global ban on commercial whaling, which may be about to come to an end. In Agadir, Morocco a meeting that finishes today which will judge whether or not to they will allow Norway, Iceland and Japan to legally hunt whales around Antarctica and elsewhere for 10 years in exchange for a slow decline of the numbers killed.

88 countries who are members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will have the final say on whether the proposal will be approved or not.

The EU, led by Britain, is united with their opposition to rule against the ban being lifted, the US on the other hand strongly backs the proposal if certain guidelines are followed.

Australia and the Latin American countries appear to be setting a higher bar for approving the deal than other anti-whaling nations such as the US and New Zealand.

South Korea, meanwhile, may vote against anything that doesn’t give it similar whaling rights to Japan, while the positions of nations such as China and Russia are hard to gauge.

Greenpeace, WWF and Pew Environment Group, which are three of the world’s largest international non-government groups, raised a few eye brows over their stance; they say they are prepared to see the commercial whaling ban lifted if 6 conditions were met, they are;

• An end to hunting in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary
• No international trading of whale meat
• IWC science must be used to set limits
• No hunting of endangered species
• An end to use of the scientific whaling regulation
• If there is a majority, all governments must agree not to lodge an objection

Well to be honest I’m well out of my comfort zone with this topic, I’m by no way a vegetarian, so for me to pass judgement on another who wants to eat a different animal would make me hypocritical. With that said Japan Iceland and Norway bon appetit.