By ANNE BESTON
The man who heads Japan's push for a return to commercial whaling has been whale hunting on the Hauraki Gulf - New Zealand style.
The Deputy Director of Japan's Far Seas Fisheries Division of the Fisheries Agency, Joji Morishita, climbed on the cruise boat Dolphin Explorer for a whale-watching
trip with other delegates from the eight countries attending an IWC sub-meeting in Auckland.
Unfortunately for the delegates, both pro- and anti-whaling, the whales stayed away.
"I think everyone had a nice time," said Dolphin Explorer skipper Daniel Mares.
"We did see a pod of common dolphins and I think that was a nice encounter,"
The IWC is an international body responsible for managing whaling.
In recent years it has been a platform for pro- and anti-whaling nations to argue whether whales should ever be hunted again.
Last year's main IWC meeting in London became bitter and acrimonious when Japan became embroiled in a votes-for-aid scandal.
New Zealand's proposal for a South Pacific whale sanctuary was voted down at that meeting.
Greenpeace has been holding protests outside the Auckland hotel where this meeting is being held.
It has also been flying a giant anti-whaling banner over the city.
"We want them to know the whole world is watching. Any return to commercial whaling is unacceptable," said spokeswoman Sarah Duthie.
New Zealand's Commissioner to the IWC, Jim McLay, would not comment on how the closed-door meeting was progressing, but said a statement from chairman Henrik Fischer, of Denmark, might be issued when it finished today.
But the Herald understands that little progress has been made on the meeting's main agenda item, the controversial Revised Management Scheme.
The scheme has been developed over the past eight years and lays out sustainable catch numbers for some species of whales.
While Japan is arguing that the scheme should be implemented and the 15-year moratorium on commercial whaling lifted, anti-whaling nations, including New Zealand, are not convinced participants will limit themselves to the recommended catch numbers.
nzherald.co.nz/environment
