In a controversial vote at last week’s yearly meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Japan headed a vote to withhold the whaling privileges that have been granted to indigenous peoples’ since the establishment of the commission. Affected peoples include the Inuit as well as other Canadian and US indigenous peoples. The move was apparently in retaliation for the denial of a request by Japan to grant whaling quotas to coastal Japanese communities for commercial whaling. See Spotlight Article
