Mr. Lean blames the intransigence of environmental groups and conservationist nations, including Britain, for increasingly undermining the credibility of the agreement that controls world whaling. He says as a result, Japan and other pro-whaling nations - once a tiny minority - are steadily gaining ground.

Mr. Lean says that the three-quarters majority of the members that they had secured to force through the 1986 ban has been so eroded, that the pro- and anti-whaling factions are now evenly matched. The IWC meeting saw them locked in stalemate, but it is the whalers who are steadily increasing their support.

In a remarkable piece of one-sided reporting, Mr. Lean blames whalers for the "destruction of species after species of whale" which he called "the first great symbol of the over exploitation of the Earth's resources", neglecting of course to mention the fact that the so-called "conservationist nations" were actually the leaders in industrial whaling. Lean goes on to accuse Japan of bribery for buying votes at IWC through its aid programme. Once again he neglects to call the anti- whaling nations and their infamous multi-national animal rights NGOs for their overt bribery of public officials, manipulation of the media and intimidation of small whaling nations.

Then amongst all the rhetoric from Lean comes a sparkle of (albeit ambiguous) truth. To his credit he says, "the moratorium was never meant to be an all-time ban. Instead it was intended to be a pause, while a new way of controlling whaling was devised to replace the discredited system that had condoned gross over exploitation for decades. The new system - which would have allowed small catches of common species - was ready in 1993. But hard-line "conservationist" nations and groups have blocked its adoption ever since". Indeed!

"The more they block progress, the more the IWC and the moratorium will be discredited. This could lead, as early as next year, to another body - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna - lifting the ban on trade in whale meat that it imposed at the same time as the moratorium".

Such is the fuzzy, emotional, enviro-group think that takes over as science is forfeited in the name of protection. Mr. Lean blames the "intransigence" of anti-whaling nations for losing control of IWC and discrediting the organization. Then in closing, he suggests that if the anti- whaling nations would have allowed whaling to proceed under a scientifically-based management plan, fewer whales of the most common species would be harvested today.