Antigua and Barbuda deny supporting lifting of whaling ban

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has denied its representatives on the International Whaling Commission (IWC) assisting with efforts to repeal the whaling ban.

Whaling is the process of hunting whales for their usable products, such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.

In a statement released yesterday, the government said, “Cabinet has NOT agreed to repeal the moratorium on whale hunting and is unaware of any statement to the contrary.”

The government of Antigua and Barbuda issued the statement after international media outlets and marine charities reported that Antigua and Barbuda had proposed the repeal of the moratorium on whaling alongside Japan and several other nations.

Marine wildlife protection charity, OceanCare, claimed Antigua and Barbuda, and countries that support the lifting of the ban proposed that whales be seen as a food source to secure food and nutritional security.

OceanCare’s Director of International Relations, Nicolas Entrup, remarked, “Instead of wasting precious time with decade-old debates about fabricated scenarios such as sustainable whaling and false solutions to ‘food security,’ the IWC should urgently address the most pressing issues: climate change and plastic pollution.”

“Both the IWC’s Scientific Committee and Conservation Committee have performed exemplary work in highlighting these issues and pointing the path toward their resolution. This spirit of the Florianópolis Declaration is the path forward for a modern IWC focused on conservation.”

Ambassador Lionel Hurst, chief of staff for the Prime Minister’s Office, indicated during today’s post-cabinet media conference that 48 countries had proposed the resolution, which is always on the agenda for the IWC’s annual convention.

Hurst said Antigua and Barbuda usually stands “on the right side of history” when it comes to environmental matters.”

The depletion of some whale species to near extinction led to the banning of whaling in many countries by 1969 and to an international cessation of whaling as an industry in the late 1980s.