Shadow DEFRA Minister Dr Neil Hudson MP this week, in the House for Commons, pushed for the UK to use its global soft power to end the practice of whaling where it takes place around the world.
The call came in response to a statement to the House from the Environmental Audit Committee Chair, following the publication of that Committee’s ‘Governing the Marine Environment’ report, which was published on 5th June, which looked at the Government’s approach and strategy on the marine environment and how improvements could be made.
Dr Hudson took the opportunity to highlight the fact that the hunting and killing of cetaceans like whales, still takes place around the world by countries such as Norway, Japan, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. He therefore urged that the Government to use its soft power by putting pressure on these countries in negotiations such as treaties, trade and fishing agreements.
Following his contribution at the Despatch Box, Dr Hudson commented:
“Whaling is a barbaric and abhorrent practice that cannot be justified on any grounds. The UK has a real opportunity to show leadership in negotiations with the rest of the world to call on nations that permit this practice to end it for good.”
“We in the UK rightly take pride in our high standards of animal welfare, including for precious marine life.”
“We have a real opportunity to protect marine species and I urge the Government to not delay in doing so.”
As Shadow DEFRA Minister, he asked the Government to use this soft power to address whaling back in March during a Parliamentary Debate, as well as urging the Government to tackle marine mammal bycatch, where it is currently estimated 650,000 marine mammals a year worldwide, including 1,000 in UK waters, sadly die because of being caught in fishing equipment. In particular, he called for progress on electronic monitoring systems being placed on all fishing systems as soon as possible, and ensure underreporting is not taking place.
Before then, he looked at this extensively as part of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee of which he was a member in the previous Parliament. He pressed the then Fisheries Minister to call for an end to whaling through soft power in negotiations and initiated an Inquiry into Marine Mammals looking at how marine mammal welfare could be improved, including ending the problem of bycatch.
You can see more about Dr Hudson’s record at the following links:
https://www.neilhudson.org.uk/news/shadow-defra-minister-pushes-government-back-uk-fishing-rights-upcoming-eu-negotiations
https://www.neilhudson.org.uk/news/dr-neil-hudson-mp-raises-plight-whales-and-dolphins-negotiations-foreign-partners https://www.neilhudson.org.uk/news/veterinary-mp-dr-neil-hudson-calls-end-whales-dolphins-porpoises-and-seals-dying-unnecessarily
