Japan hoping for pro-whaling majority at IWC meeting

[A. Sachiko]

Japan hoping for pro-whaling majority at IWC meeting
Monday, June 16, 2003 at 05:00 JST

BERLIN ? The International Whaling Commission (IWC) will begin an annual 
meeting Monday in Berlin that is expected to see heated debate as Japan 
hopes to turn the tide among members in favor of scrapping an international 
moratorium on commercial whale hunting.

Japan will oppose a move toward strengthening regulations to protect whales 
during the meeting. Instead Japan will push for the approval ? or more 
realistically, further discussion ? of a resumption of controlled 
commercial whaling, said Takanori Nagatomo, an official with the Fisheries 
Agency of Japan.

full story:
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=263171