Antigua and Barbuda says it has not agreed to lift whaling ban
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has denied authorising any of its officials to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to assist efforts to repeal the whaling prohibition.
Today, the government issued the following statement: “Cabinet has NOT agreed to repeal the moratorium on whale hunting and is unaware of any statement to the contrary.”
The government of Antigua and Barbuda issued a statement after international media and marine charities reported that Antigua and Barbuda had proposed the repeal of the moratorium on whaling alongside Japan and several other nations.
OceanCare, a marine wildlife preservation organisation, asserted that Antigua and Barbuda and countries supporting the lifting of the prohibition requested that whales be considered a food source in order to ensure food and nutritional security.
OceanCare’s Director of International Relations, Nicolas Entrup, remarked, “Instead of wasting precious time with decade-old debates about fabricated scenarios such as’sustainable whaling’ and false solutions to ‘food security,’ the IWC should urgently address the most pressing issues: climate change and plastic pollution.”
“Both the IWC’s Scientific Committee and Conservation Committee have performed exemplary work in highlighting these issues and pointing the path toward their resolution. This spirit of the Florianópolis Declaration is the path forward for a modern IWC focused on conservation.”
Ambassador Lionel Hurst, chief of staff for the Prime Minister’s Office, indicated during today’s post-cabinet media conference that 48 countries had proposed the resolution, which is always on the agenda for the IWC’s annual convention.
