Delegates agree to extend whaling talks

MADEIRA, Portugal, June 24 (UPI) -- Efforts to reach an international compromise on whaling will continue for another year, participants at a conference in Portugal say.

It was conceded even before this week's International Whaling Commission annual meeting in Madeira that an agreement between countries such as Japan, Iceland and Norway that practice "scientific" whale hunting and anti-whaling nations led by the United States would not be reached, throwing the future of the commission into doubt, the BBC reported Wednesday.

But delegates to the IWC did agree to keep the reform talks alive for at least one more year, the British broadcaster said, even as pro- and anti-whaling countries acknowledged that fundamental differences remain between the two blocs.

Anti-whaling nations benefit from extending the talks by keeping alive their goal of reducing the total number of whales killed in "scientific quotas" each year and instituting more oversight of hunting, while pro-whaling nations see political benefits by continuing to work toward a deal that could reduce international criticism aimed at them, the BBC said.