Q&A: Global Whaling Deal Negotiations

What is the "deal"?

On the table is a draft compromise "package" of measures that has been drawn up by the IWC chair and vice-chair following a two-year sequence of meetings with a small group of delegations. If adopted, it would reform whaling for a 10-year period.

The essential ingredients of the deal are that Japan would phase down (or phase out) its whaling operations in the Southern Ocean. The draft calls for its annual minke whale quota to fall from 935 to 400 now, and then to 200 in 2015. In exchange, it would be assigned a quota for whales in its coastal waters. Read the full report here.

You can also learn a great deal about the different species of whales with the BBC's guide available here.

Source: BBC News, UK