Secret Plan To Let Japan Resume Whaling

[babylonsister]

Secret Plan To Let Japan Resume Whaling
by Geoffrey Lean and Jonathan Owen


Controversial plans to lift the worldwide ban on whaling were presented to a secret meeting of more than 70 governments in London last week.The plans, which have alarmed environmentalists, have been welcomed by both pro- and anti-whaling governments and seek to lift a long stalemate over hunting, enabling Japan officially to resume commercial whaling for the first time in more than 20 years.


The plans would permit the world’s main whaling nation to carry out a limited hunt in waters close to its shores. In return, Japan would have to stop exploiting a loophole in international law, through which it kills hundreds of whales around Antarctica each year under the guise of “scientific research”.

The plans - drawn up at another unpublicised meeting in Tokyo last month - were presented by the governments of Argentina and the Netherlands to a closed three-day session of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) at the Renaissance Hotel near Heathrow airport, which ended yesterday.

The meeting took place as confrontations with Japan’s “scientific” whaling fleet in the Antarctic increased sharply. On Tuesday, the militant Sea Shepherd organisation, which has been shadowing the fleet, threw mild acid at the Japanese and on Friday the group’s captain, Paul Watson, claimed he had been shot in the chest.

Participants at the Heathrow session were forbidden to disclose anything about the discussions designed to “to find a way out of the impasse” over whaling and “seek ways to improve how negotiations within the IWC are conducted”. An IWC spokeswoman flatly refused to comment on the plans, saying that they were not part of the formal proceedings.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/09/7574/

[flashl]

1. One begins to wonder, if there is a secret plan to harm the Japanese ...

Pollution hotspots

According to the WWF, there are high concentrations of accumulated dioxins in whale and dolphin meat sold in Japan.

Dioxins are common pollutants - produced as the result of many industrial processes. They are essentially "unintentional by-products" formed by chemical reactions and combustion processes.

Dioxins are extremely toxic. They can trigger cognitive disorders, immunosuppression, endometriosis and other problems in both humans and animals.

These chemicals are an issue in several parts of the world, and they can be what are known as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) which become more concentrated up the food chain.

They are stored in animal fat, which can pose a health risk to humans who eat meat in problem areas.

The WWF claims that dioxin levels up to 172 times the tolerable daily intake were found in marketed whale and dolphin meat in Japan.