International delegates from all around the world today where met with a large group of protesters demanding an end to whaling as they arrived at International whaling Commission ( IWC ) meeting in Hobart. Although commercial whaling was banned in 1986, Iceland, Norway, Japan and the Faroe Islands/Denmark continue to kill whales and dolphins. In Antarctica, seven whales were killed in the nets of krill supertrawlers.

The protesters are demanding that Australia take action to both ban krill fishing in Antarctica. Australia must also remove the lethal and unnecessary shark nets along our coastlines that not only entangle and injure whales but indiscriminately kill all manner of marine life.

“As we speak, whales are undertaking a huge migration along Australia’s coast, to the joy of the public. Yet they face threats along the whole journey from krill trawlers in Antarctica and shark nets off Sydney,” said Alistair Allan, Antarctic and Marine Campaigner at Bob Brown Foundation.

“Minister Murray Watt can ensure the Australian government proposes a ban on krill fishing next month at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic and Matine living Resources (CCAMLR) meeting. The IWC is a perfect place to gather support for such a ban. It is also entirely in Minister Watts power to remove the cruel and unnecessary shark nets.”

“Australia once took bold action to protect whales when they took the Japanese whaling program to the International Court of Justice. They must now act again to protect the whales from Antarctica’s new plunderers, the krill supertrawlers,” said Alistair Allan.