Japan mulls IWC pullout in bid to resume commercial whaling
Print Edition
Japan is considering pulling out of the International Whaling Commission, officials said yesterday, as Tokyo reportedly gears up to resume commercial whaling activity next year.
Such a move would spark international criticism against Japan and deepen the divide between anti- and pro-whaling countries. 鈥淲e are considering all options鈥 including the possibility of withdrawal from the 89-member IWC, Fisheries Agency official Yuki Morita said.
Another official at the Japanese foreign ministry confirmed 鈥渁ll options are on the table but nothing formal has been decided yet.鈥
Both stressed Tokyo has not yet changed its whaling policy but Japan threatened to pull out of the IWC in September when the commission rejected its bid to return to commercial whaling.
Citing government sources, local news agency Kyodo said a formal decision to withdraw from the IWC would come by the end of the year.
After a tense September vote in Brazil, the IWC rejected Japan鈥檚 bid to return to commercial whaling, prompting vice minister for fisheries Masaaki Taniai to say Tokyo would be 鈥減ressed to undertake a fundamental reassessment of its position as a member of the IWC.鈥
Anti-whaling nations 鈥 led by Australia, the European Union and the United States 鈥 defeated Japan鈥檚 鈥淲ay Forward鈥 proposal 41-to-27.
Following the ballot, Japan鈥檚 IWC commissioner Joji Morishita said differences with anti-whaling nations were 鈥渧ery clear鈥 and Japan would now plan its 鈥渘ext steps.鈥
The IWC was established in 1946 to conserve and manage the world鈥檚 whale and cetacean population. It introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 after some species had been fished to near extinction.
Japan insists whale stocks have now recovered sufficiently to allow commercial hunting to resume.
Tokyo currently observes the moratorium but exploits a loophole to kill hundreds of whales every year for 鈥渟cientific purposes鈥 as well as to sell the meat.
According to Kyodo, Japan鈥檚 unlikely to catch whales in the Antarctic Ocean even if it did withdraw from the IWC, as it is eying commercial whaling only in seas near Japan and its exclusive economic zone.
Iceland, along with Norway, openly defies the IWC鈥檚 1986 ban on commercial whaling.
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