Japan to leave International Whaling Commission, resume commercial hunting
By continuing to kill whales commercially, Japan now becomes a pirate whaling nation killing these ocean leviathans completely outside the bounds of international law.
SIMON DENYER: ‘Japan announced that it is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and will resume commercial whale hunting next year, sparking swift condemnation from other governments and conservation groups. Tokyo argues that the IWC has failed to live up to its initial dual mandate in 1946 to find a balance between preserving whale stocks and allowing the “orderly development” of the whaling industry. After failing to reach an agreement at a global conference in Brazil in September to resume commercial whaling, Japan is now following through on a threat to withdraw from the global body entirely…
As a result, Japan will cease taking whales from the Antarctic Ocean and Southern Hemisphere — where it has been killing whales ostensibly for ‘scientific research’ — and will conduct commercial whaling within Japan’s territorial sea and its exclusive economic zone… Conservation groups the decision. “By leaving the International Whaling Commission but continuing to kill whales commercially, Japan now becomes a pirate whaling nation killing these ocean leviathans completely outside the bounds of international law,” said Kitty Block, president of Humane Society International. The organization also expressed concern that Japan may recruit other pro-whaling nations to leave the IWC, “leading to a new chapter of renegade slaughter of whales for profit”.’ SOURCE…
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