Congress, Conservations Call for U.S. Protection of Whales [Source: IFAW]
More than 50 members of Congress and 20 conservation groups are calling on the Bush administration to intensify efforts banning commercial whaling. An IFAW-sponsored poll indicates 78 percent of Americans oppose commercial whaling and more than 59 percent would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who took a firm stand against Japanese whaling. The «Whales Need U.S.» initiative, which represents more than 15 million people, was established in lieu of the upcoming International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in May. The meeting in Anchorage, Alaska will be the first time the IWC has convened on U.S. soil since 1989. Then IWC is the international body responsible for managing the worlds whale populations. Despite an IWC moratorium banning commercial whaling in 1986, more than 20,000 whales have been killed for marketing purposes.
