Chile has declared a permanent ban on whaling in its waters, as conservation groups feared an International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting it is hosting will fail to halt world No.1 whaler Japan.
Speaking at a former whale processing plant that Chile closed in 1967, President Michelle Bachelet also sent a bill to Congress proposing a whale sanctuary along Chile's coastline and declared the whale a national monument.
"We have chosen this place, the Quintay whale plant, to highlight the Chile and the world of the past, in which there was no awareness of social and environmental consequences," Bachelet said.
"Chile ... wants to give the world a clear sign of its will to protect whales in its waters," she added. "This initiative is a pledge to the world of the future."
Chile's whaling moratorium had been set to expire in 2025.
In the capital, Santiago, the annual whaling commission meeting began with nations from the Americas to Europe voicing concern about rising catches of Minke whales in the north Pacific, namely in Japanese and Korean waters.
Outside the venue, protesters flanked by a giant blue inflatable whale chanted "Murderers, it's your fault," and held aloft banners emblazoned with "Stop the slaughter" and "No blood for tradition".
Police said they detained 15 protesters.
"The species is going to be extinct because they are catching a lot of whales," said 14-year-old schoolboy Martin Lopez, holding a Greenpeace leaflet as music blared out. "We are here to say we are against whaling."
"What Japan is doing is bad."
Japan says it is misunderstood, denies the 1,000 whales it hunts each year for scientific purposes despite a 1986 moratorium are making it to the dinner table, and says it is also in favour of conservation.
But it also sees whaling as a cultural tradition of its coastal communities and believes in sustainable commercialisation of the world's biggest mammals.
Japan has presented the IWC with a resolution to legalise coastal whaling, the same resolution anti-whaling countries blocked a year ago.
The IWC meeting, attended by about 80 countries, is focused on the body's inner workings rather than the big picture issues such as debating continued whaling and suitable penalties, and some groups fear it will be much ado about nothing.
The meeting, the IWC's first in South America in 23 years, will run until Friday.
