Whale hunt in limbo

Alaskan Eskimo whalers are disappointed that Japan is still blocking their bowhead hunt.
At a meeting of the International Whaling Commission last May, Japan voted to prevent the commission’s approval of a five-year continuation of the Alaskan bowhead hunt. Japanese delegates charged it was hypocrisy to approve aboriginal whaling quotas and then disallow Japan’s attempts to start a minke whale harvest.

In June, Japanese officials said they would no longer block the quota, but last week a Japanese whaling negotiator said it would seek a more limited hunt when the whaling commission meets again in October.