The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Edwin Snagg says he is confident that the country will retain its quota of four Hump Back Whales per year when the next IWC Meeting convenes in 2018.
He tells NBC News that while the International Whaling Industry is a controversial issue, St. Vincent and the Grenadines continues to operate under the rules and regulations set up by the IWC.
Mr. Snagg says SVG practices aboriginal subsistence whaling which is a tradition that dates back over 200 years.
He says while the country puts forward its request for a quota, the final number is decided by the Scientists of the IWC.
Mr. Snagg says St. Vincent and the Grenadines has not caught the quota of four whales per year over the past couple of years because many whales do not travel this far south.
He said with this in mind he is confident that the country will retain its quota because what the country catches does not threaten the global population of Hump Back Whales.
Subsistance whaling??? Really? Have they starved to death in the years that no humpbacks have been killed by them?
And does Japan still pay their way to the IWC meetings? And their IWC fees? And put them up at 5 star hotels? All to keep them a “whaling nation” who will stay on Japan’s side at the IWC meetings?
May all whales stay far, far, far away from these islands and remain safe.