Nations fail to limit whaling

An international effort to truly limit whale hunting collapsed Wednesday, leaving Japan, Norway and Iceland free to keep killing hundreds of mammals a year, even raiding a marine sanctuary in Antarctic waters unchecked.

The breakdown put diplomatic efforts on ice for at least a year, raised the possibility that South Korea might join the whaling nations and raised questions about the global drive to prevent the extinction of the most endangered whale species.

It also revived doubts about the effectiveness and future of the International Whaling Commission. The agency was created after World War II to oversee the hunting of tens of thousands of whales a year, but gradually evolved into a body at least partly dedicated to keeping whales from vanishing from the Earth's oceans.

"I think ultimately if we don't make some changes to this organisation in the next few years it may be very serious, possibly fatal for the organisation - and the whales will be worse off," said former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer.

- AP