The fishers of the Indonesian island village of Lamalera have an age-old tradition of whaling that mixes social, cultural and economic practices to sustain livelihoods.
Conservationists are looking to the United States to help re-establish the authority of the International Whaling Commission after IWC delegates this week failed to reach a deal to regulate global whaling.
The 85-nation International Whaling Commission (IWC) is holding its annual meeting from June 22-26 on the Portuguese island of Madeira to review whale hunts.
Whaling nations Japan, Norway and Iceland have been pushing for years for reforms to approve the hunts. Many nations and conservationists say harpooning the giant mammals is cruel and unnecessary and want a 1986 moratorium extended.
"Australia and other countries have very serious concerns about this proposal," Garrett said in a speech at the Australian National University in the leadup to the meeting in Madeira, Portugal.
At least 55 whales stranded on a beach near Cape Town were put down or died after rescue teams failed to return them to the ocean, a sea rescue institute said on Sunday.
Scientists shot 42 of the false killer whales on Saturday and 13 others perished, possibly from internal injuries, at Kommetjie Beach, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
Indonesia has opened Southeast Asia's largest marine park in the Savu Sea, a migration route for almost half the world's whale species and home to vast tracts of rare coral, the country's fisheries minister said.
Japan's whaling catch in its latest Antarctic hunt fell far short of its target after disruptions by anti-whaling activists, the Fisheries Agency said on Monday.
Japan, which considers whaling to be a cherished cultural tradition, killed 679 minke whales despite plans to catch around 850. It caught just one fin whale compared with a target of 50 in the hunt that began in November.
