Stephen's views on whaling

I am vehemently against the practice of whaling. I believe that it is an unethical practice that ought to be ended once and for all. I support the world-wide conservation and preservation of whales and believe that no country should support commercial whaling.

In recent years whale numbers have been devastated by industrial whaling. Despite the anti-whaling legislation of many countries whale numbers are dropping. Most whale species are now small fractions of their original population sizes. Countries such as Japan and Norway have made use of a 'research' whaling loophole in International Whaling Commission (IWC) regulations, in order to continue to profit from the trade in whale products.

Japan has been accused of 'buying' enough votes to secure a 51 per cent majority in the IWC. There is a danger that this will pave the way for the reestablishment of widespread legal commercial hunting of whales. Clearly, this presents grave problems for the international environmental movement. Indeed, until now the movement has largely been considered victorious in its fight for the 'Save the Whale' campaign. Japan's ten year drive to persuade nations to join the IWC (which can, in fact, even be joined by countries with no coastline, such as Mongolia) has paid off. With the help of considerable financial aid packages, small countries, such as Guatemala, Cambodia and the tiny Marshall Islands, will help Japanese pro-whaling interests to secure their majority. Although the Japanese will not be able to scrap the 1986 international commercial whaling moratorium until they have a 75 per cent majority, they will be able to restyle the organisation in a more pro-whaling manner.

I have signed numerous Early Day Motions, condemning the government of Japan for its 'scientific' whaling and urging the government to increase their pressure on Japan at the highest diplomatic levels to cease its whaling programme. We must do all we can to ensure that the battle against this cruel practice is won.