President Johnson Toribiong, in a telephone interview, said he will “continue to insist on a policy to ensure the conservation of whales.”
Toribiong also clarified that Palau’s voting rights were reinstated since June 4 contrary to reports that the island nation was barred from voting for failing to pay annual fees.
The whaling moratorium remains but this will not prevent Japan from hunting whale for research.
Under the draft proposal presented by the commission, Japan would be allowed to catch 120 whales a year in its coastal waters.
The commission is also under pressure to investigate allegation that its deputy chair had his hotel bill paid for by Japan and that delegates were being offered prostitutes in return for their votes.
Palau earlier decided to drop its support for Japan’s scientific whaling in favor of a halved catch quota proposal as pushed by the International Whaling Commission.
Palau used to be a staunch supporter of Japan’s whale hunting carried out under a loophole in the international whaling ban that allowed hunting for scientific purposes.
On June 2, Toribiong discussed Palau’s new position with Japanese envoy Kenro Iino.
Toribiong said the Japanese official stressed that whales consume more fish stocks than humans do.
Palau has been a member of the commission since 2002 and is one of the pro-whaling nations supporting Japan’s research program.
Palau’s policy shift has been criticized by several sectors which said that the island nation is still voting with Japan so it can resume commercial whaling.
Japan is the largest donor to Palau after the United States.
Toribiong recently declared Palau a shark sanctuary at the U.N. General Assembly. He said the country also needs to protect other marine species in Palau.
The moratorium on commercial whaling has been in place since 1986. Japan, however, continues to hunt about 1,000 whales a year for research purposes.
