Guest guest Posted June 11, 2001 Report Share Posted June 11, 2001 BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Two Caribbean states on Wednesday strongly defended their support of Japan's whaling exploits during the first full day of a three-day regional symposium on sustainable use of marine resources. In a question and answer session, St. Lucia's Agriculture Minister, Cassius Elias, and his Grenadian counterpart, Claris Charles responded to suggestions from journalists that their governments could vote with Japan at the upcoming International Whaling Commission (IWC) conference so they will benefit from Japanese financial assistance. " If Japan is assisting the region in any way whatsoever, I would like to say to you now, and I invite you to understand, they are legitimate gifts to the Caribbean and they don't do so because we support whaling, " the St. Lucian agriculture minister said. " Japan has never threatened to cut off aid to us, if we do not vote with them, " he added. Elias said he was disappointed to learn that Japan was giving more grants to the countries which opposed them and very little to those who did not. " So we're saying to them, look, eh, we will never support you if you choose to hunt whales to extinction...St. Lucia will never do this...and the Caribbean will never do this. But we will work with you co-operatively, with the rest of the countries that are whaling countries, " Elias added. He said there was need to develop multi-lateral negotiations with countries based on trade with them ... " and there must be something to come back to us because the imbalance is so great. " The St. Lucia minister noted that the notion must be put to rest that his government blindly supports any country at any forum in the world. St. Lucia only supported principles and the science of any situation, he added. Elias also took a swipe at the international environmental agency, Greenpeace, accusing it of making significant financial contributions to certain environmental organisations and individuals in the Caribbean for their work in anti-whaling activities. He suggested that this money did not filter down to fishermen while the same thing could not be said about Japanese aid. The Grenadian minister was adamant that Grenada's vote for whaling was not linked to any assistance from Japan. Charles was responding to a suggestion that some Caribbean governments were prostituting themselves on the table of Japan. " Why are we tying a fishing complex in Grenada for example, to voting with Japan? " Charles asked. " On the other hand, we are getting a hospital that is being built with most of the aid from Cuba. Does it mean we have to vote on everything that Cuba votes at the United Nations? " " That philosophy or the idea doesn't make any sense to me. It is not objective and is very inward looking, " Charles said. The symposium, which is organised by the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), will end on Thursday with presentations on such issues as " Ecotourism, making development compatible with Ecotourism " by Dominica's Agriculture Minister Lloyd Pascal. Barbados' Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, MsBillie Miller will close the workshop during a dinner. The workshop is the first in a series organised by the CBU that will bring policy-makers and Caribbean journalists together to exchange ideas on various critical issues. © 2001 St Vincent and Grenadines Herald ================================================================= Rare Entangled Whale May Not Survive ---------- ---- Story Filed: Sunday, June 10, 2001 10:47 PM EDT BOSTON (AP) -- A rare right whale swimming off Cape Cod has a rope deeply embedded in both sides of its upper jaw and may not survive, marine scientists said Sunday. The rope, a five-eighths-inch-thick plastic line, is cutting into the whale's rostrum, or upper jaw, and has cinched around it, said David Matilla of the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown. ``The first question is, will it survive if we don't remove the entanglement? It's pretty unlikely from our experience,'' Matilla said. ``The rope will continue to irritate the whale and it will die of infection. ``The second question is, will it heal if we get it out? That's a long shot too, frankly,'' he added. Matilla, director of the center's disentanglement team, said the whale is still feeding and appears to be in good health, but its prognosis is not good. Tissue around both sides of its mouth is dying or dead, evidence that infection has set in. Matilla was part of a team that observed the huge mammal Saturday and attached a telemetry buoy so marine scientists could track it. As of Sunday night, the whale was about 80 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, near Georges Bank. The whale is traveling north and is thought to be on its way to the Bay of Fundy. Rescuers do not know if it is a male or female. Rough conditions at sea will keep rescuers from going out Monday, Matilla said. But they will consult with veterinarians and marine biologists to plot their next step. Right whales frequent the Massachusetts coast in spring and fall. It is estimated there are just 300 of the animals left. The whale will remain endangered until the population is at least 1,200. The New England Aquarium in Boston estimates about 60 percent of right whales have scarring from fishing lines. ``Lines can get wrapped around flippers or tails when feeding, especially with the right whale,'' said Alison Glass of the Gloucester-based Whale Center of New England. Matilla said he could not speculate on whether the rope was from fishing gear or another source. Rescuers considered Sunday whether they would be able to remove the line from the moving 50-ton animal. They cannot put the whale to sleep, and are consulting with veterinarians to see if it's possible to partially tranquilize it. ``Our techniques are very rough and crude,'' Matilla said. ``Sometimes we're trying to cut lines as a whale is swimming along. This would be like performing surgery while riding a bike -- and you were running away -- with a 15-foot pole.'' The right whale was placed on the endangered species list because of its losing battle for survival with tankers and fishing nets. Collisions with ships have accounted for 16 of the 45 known right whale deaths since 1970. Scientists are looking forward to this summer's northern migration because of a dramatic increase in the number of whale calves born off of Florida and Georgia since last December. On the Web: Center for Coastal Studies: http://www.coastalstudies.org Whale Center of New England: http://www.whalecenter.org 2001 Associated Press Information Services, all rights reserved. ========================================================= 08/06/2001 22:38 Iceland rejoins IWC Icelandic State Broadcasting Corporation announced today that Iceland had rejoined the IWC, 'with a reservation to the zero catch quotas' (Schedule paragraph 10(e) ). Iceland State Broadcasting Corporation stated that this would allow Iceland to participate in the IWC at the same legal position as Norway who have an objection to the moratorium decision. The press release stated that Iceland's instrument of adherence was presented to the Government of the United States of America, the IWC Convention's depository government, in Washington on June 8th 2001. WDCS believes that Iceland cannot rejoin the IWC with an objection. Indeed, the IWC has no provision to allow for such a measure which would allow for any state to undermine the IWC at any point that it disagreed with a decision of the IWC. The IWC allows member states a 90 day period to lodge a formal objection to Schedule amendments, after which it is bound by the decision. However, this provision only applies to members, and if a member was to leave, WDCS believes that any existing objections held by that member are recinded and a state must, if it wishes to rejoin, respect the decisions of the IWC. If Iceland were allowed to rejoin with an objection such a principle would allow any state, to withdraw from the IWC, and then rejoin with an objection to a decision that it retrospectively wished to overturn. The press release states that 'A decision has not been made on when whaling will be resumed in Icelandic waters'. Source: Press Release Ministry of Fisheries, Iceland, Iceland, 8 June 2001 ========================================================== Gray Whales with Winston http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/1953/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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