Wellington, June 20 NZPA - The government is being urged to speak out against any proposal at the International Whaling Commission's meeting next week which would threaten the current whaling ban.

Actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, the public face of the World Society for the Protection of Animal's (WSPA) anti-whaling campaign, said more than 13,000 New Zealanders had added their name to a statement telling the Government to reject any proposal which would effectively lift the moratorium on commercial whaling.

"We hope the Government will listen to this strong message from the New Zealand public," she said in a statement.

"The whaling ban is one of the greatest conservation measures of our time, having prevented the extinction of several species and saved tens of thousands of whales from inhumane deaths. It must be protected."

WSPA New Zealand's programmes manager Bridget Vercoe said countries would decide at this year's IWC meeting whether to commit to a process that would allow Japan to hunt 750 coastal minke whales over a five-year period, effectively lifting the ban on commercial whaling.

"The IWC is on a very slippery slope, this deal would set an extremely dangerous precedent, paving the way for a global resumption of coastal commercial whaling," she said.

We sincerely hope the New Zealand Government will reject Japan's unreasonable demands and instead focus on protecting whales and the whale-watching industries that depend upon them."

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