International Whaling Commission rejects push to revive commercial whaling

The International Whaling Commission's global moratorium on commercial whaling survived its 70th meeting in Hobart, Tasmania, after Grenada withdrew a resolution pushed by Antigua and Barbuda, Palau, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and Togo that would have opened a path toward resuming the practice. The 40-year-old ban remains intact, and Norway, Iceland and observer-nation Japan continue hunting whales regardless, under objections, reservations, and a withdrawal from the body entirely.

A proposed South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary, first floated in 2018 by Argentina, Brazil, Gabon, South Africa and Uruguay, again failed to reach the three-quarters majority needed, blocked by the same bloc of countries that includes several nations with no whaling industry of their own. Antigua and Barbuda's ambassador has acknowledged receiving $200 million in Japanese assistance over two decades while denying any link to his country's pro-whaling votes.

A 2023 study found a quarter of assessed cetacean species face extinction threats from fishing gear, ship strikes, pollution and climate change, independent of hunting pressure. Observers called the attempted budget sabotage and resolution maneuvering by Antigua and Barbuda 'agents of chaos,' and noted the sanctuary vote fell one vote short last time too.

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