Pro-whaling states to meet in Japan in November

TOKYO, Aug. 25 Kyodo -
Japan will hold a working-level meeting in November among countries supporting
whaling to discuss steps toward realizing the resumption of commercial whaling
after talks on the matter ended without conclusion at the last International
Whaling Commission session, the Fisheries Agency said Wednesday.
The Japanese government plans to call on about 40 states, including active
whaling nations such as Norway and Iceland, to join the meeting slated for Nov.
9 and 10 in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, the agency said.
Due to a rift between states, the IWC's annual meeting held in June in Morocco
ended in a decision to defer until next year a proposal presented by the IWC
chairman and vice chairman that would effectively allow Japan and some other
countries to resume commercial whaling under the commission's control.
Following the deferral, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Masahiko
Yamada had indicated Japan's intention to hold talks with countries supporting
its stance over whaling to decide the next move.
Japan halted commercial whaling in 1986 in line with an international
moratorium on such activities, but has hunted whales since 1987 for what it
calls scientific research purposes and is seeking to resume full-fledged
commercial whaling.
==Kyodo