Poll Finds Most Antiguans Oppose Government’s Pro-Whaling Position

Nearly two-thirds of Antiguans and Barbudans oppose commercial whaling, according to a new survey that also found widespread public unawareness of the government’s advocacy on the issue.

The telephone survey, commissioned by the Antigua and Barbuda Ocean Trust and conducted by CoreConsult Inc., interviewed 508 residents between late May and early June.

It found that 64% opposed commercial whaling, while 60% did not support Antigua and Barbuda introducing a resolution that could help revive the practice. Another 68% said they did not know the government had been advocating for commercial whaling at the International Whaling Commission.

Antigua and Barbuda has repeatedly supported lifting the international moratorium on commercial whaling, which has been in place since 1986.

The poll also found that 62% believed the government’s position could damage the country’s international reputation. Fifty-six per cent opposed Antigua and Barbuda’s resistance to the proposed South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary.

Following the survey, 22 international conservation organisations wrote to Prime Minister Gaston Browne, calling on his administration to abandon support for renewed commercial whaling and endorse the sanctuary proposal.

The appeal comes ahead of the International Whaling Commission’s next meeting in Hobart, Australia, in September. It also comes as Antigua and Barbuda prepares to host the Caribbean Blue Economy Summit in October and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November.

OceanCare’s director of international relations, Nicolas Entrup, said the findings showed that “the country’s population clearly rejects commercial whaling.”

Antigua and Barbuda does not conduct commercial whaling but has been one of the countries supporting efforts to revive the industry internationally.

Read the original report in Oceanographic Magazine

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