Japanese shoppers browse whale meat at a grocery department in Tokyo, Japan, on February 4, 2009. The meat, priced around $10 per one hundred gram, are sold constantly in major supermarkets in various regions as "by-product" of Japan's research whaling conducting in the Antarctic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean every year. (UPI Photo/Keizo Mori) | License Photo
Whale meat products, produced by Japan's research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean, are constantly displayed at major supermarkets in Tokyo, Japan, on February 4, 2009. (UPI Photo/Keizo Mori) | License Photo
A demonstrator hold signs at a rally calling on President Barack Obama not to overturn a band on commercial whaling, in front of the White House in Washington on April 22, 2010. This event was part of the Earth Day Networks' celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. UPI/Kevin Dietsch | License Photo
Demonstrators dressed as whales participate in a rally calling on President Barack Obama not to overturn a band on commercial whaling, in front of the White House in Washington on April 22, 2010. This event was part of the Earth Day Networks' celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. UPI/Kevin Dietsch | License Photo
Actress Kristin Bauer speaks at a rally calling on President Barack Obama not to overturn a band on commercial whaling, in front of the White House in Washington on April 22, 2010. This event was part of the Earth Day Networks' celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. UPI/Kevin Dietsch | License Photo
Actor and advocate Goran Visnjic briefs Senate staffers about whale conservation on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 13, 2010. UPI/Mannie Garcia/HO | License Photo
WASHINGTON, June 6 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama is breaking a campaign promise as his administration backs an effort to lift a 24-year ban on commercial whaling, critics say.
Environmentalists, already unhappy with the administration's allegedly lackluster response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, say the president is going back on his campaign pledge to end the slaughter of whales, FOX News reported Sunday.
The administration is leading a push within the International Whaling Commission to lift the ban on whaling against Japan, Norway and Iceland, the three countries in the commission still hunting whales, FOX News said.
The White House says a new agreement will save whales by keeping the three countries from exploiting loopholes in the current moratorium, but environmentalists say they aren't buying it.
"That moratorium on commercial whaling was the greatest conservation victory of the 20th century," Patrick Ramage of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said.
"And in 2010 to be waving the white flag or bowing to the stubbornness of the last three countries engaged in the practice is a mind-numbingly dumb idea," he said.
Australia has announced it will take Japan to the International Court of Justice to try to end its "scientific whaling" program in southern oceans, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
