I bring this petition to the House on behalf of the petitioners who call on the Government to do all that they can to get the world community to pressure countries such as Japan, Norway and Iceland to stop killing whales across the globe. The International Whaling Commission meets this week in Chile, and the petition calls on that body to make it clear that, when the world says no, it means no—to all-out whaling, to targeted culls and to the "scientific" cull con. It means no to whaling full stop.

Following is the full text of the petition:

[The Petition of those concerned about whaling,

Declares that the situation for whales is bleak. More than 30,000 whales have been killed for commercial purposes since the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling came into effect in 1986, in blatant disregard of global conservation efforts. In the next 12 months Japan and Norway intend to kill around 2,000 whales, including endangered species such as fin whales.

Japan claims that the whaling it conducts is for scientific research. However, Japan's "scientific research" is simply a means to carry on commercial whaling despite the moratorium. Whaling is also extremely cruel. There is simply no way to kill a whale humanely at sea.

Japan has also been continuing its attempts to recruit more developing countries to the IWC in order to regain a simple majority at this year's IWC meeting in June and promote commercial whaling. If Japan were to succeed, it would be a disaster for whales. Many whale species have still not recovered from the intensive commercial whaling of the past and face many other threats such as climate change, ship strikes and pollution. It is therefore extremely important that the current pro-conservation majority at the IWC is both maintained and strengthened.

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to demand that the Japanese Government end its cruel and unnecessary "scientific" whaling programmes; to continue and enhance his efforts, at the highest ministerial and diplomatic levels to recruit more pro-conservation countries to the IWC and to persuade those countries which currently vote with Japan to vote instead for whale conservation; and to work with other anti-whaling countries to turn the IWC into a body exclusively focused on protecting and conserving whales for future generations.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.]

[P000219]