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Take action!
The critical vote
to allow Iceland back into the IWC came from Sweden. The Swedish
government is now claiming the vote was a mistake but the damage
has been done.
Sweden's vote would not have been so important if it were not for
the fact that the Fisheries Agency of Japan has used fisheries aid
to buy the votes of developing countries. Nine of the 19 votes to
admit Iceland were obtained in this way. Every year the bloc of
votes controlled by Japan increases. The anti-whaling governments
know this, but none of them are willing to speak out.
The only thing which can prevent further attacks on whales is that
governments speak out against vote buying. If Sweden indeed did
make a mistake, they now have a golden opportunity to prove that
they are still committed to whale conservation.
Please
take a moment now to send a letter to the Swedish foreign minister
and prime minister.
Take
action: help stop whaling in the North Pacific

Sei whale with calf in North Atlantic
ocean. © Perrine/Innerspace Visions |
The Fisheries Agency of Japan intends to escalate its whaling activities
by targeting a new species, Sei whales, in the North Pacific. Sei
whales were heavily exploited in the last century and are now classified
as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation
of Nature.
This year's whaling quota for the North Pacific will allow 150
minke whales, 50 Bryde's whales, 10 sperm whales and 50 sei whales.
This is addition to the 440 minke whales taken each year in the
Antarctic.
Please
take action now to stop so-called 'scientific' whaling.
Start
your own campaign with this downloadable action kit
You can help stop commercial whaling with our action kit. Send
a letter in Japanese to the Foreign Minister of Japan, put up posters
in your community to recruit more cyberactivists or write a letter
to your local newspaper. Download the
kit>
Show your support for whale conservation
You
can show your opposition to whaling in person. Join the picture
petition against commercial whaling by uploading a picture of yourself
and a personal statement for our online picture petition. Click
here to join the international petition or join the German
petition here.
Take action: put the pressure on the Japanese government
In recent years Japan has actively and openly corrupted the IWC
by using Overseas Development Aid (ODA) to buy the votes of some
existing members and to recruit new members in support of a resumption
of commercial whaling. Although some countries have challenged Japan
and Norway's attempts to resume commercial whaling, the reality
is that Japan is buying a return to commercial whaling.
Yet these countries are not doing enough to challege the Japanese
government's tactics. Write
to these anti-whaling countries asking them to challenge Japan's
blatant vote buying activities and double their efforts to counter
Japan and Norway's whaling initiatives within the IWC
Take Action: Join the Global Whale Action Team and Discussion Group!
Join
the new Global Whale Action Team to receive detailed updates and
special action alerts.
Join the new Whales Discussion Group.
Visit
the Greenpeace cybercentre and become a cyberactivist!
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