Despite an international court ruling prohibiting the practice, Japan revealed over the weekend that it plans to resume its controversial whale hunts next summer in a plan that was immediately condemned by environmental organizations and the UK and Australian governments.

According to BBC News, the resumed hunts will come following a hiatus of more than a year, as Japan cancelled its so-called “scientific” whaling program for the whole 2014-15 season when the International Court of Justice ruled that the program was not scientific in any way whatsoever.

The ICJ’s decision also stated that it did not believe that Japan needed to kill the whale in order to study them. In announcing the resumption of the program, the government said that it would take the ruling into account, and that the new version of its program would be scaled down.

Plan to launch despite lack of IWC approval

Under the new plan, which is known as NEWREP-A, Japan proposes hunting down nearly 4,000 minke whales over a period of 12 years, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Saturday. The plan was not approved by a special International Whaling Commission panel in January, nor did it get the go-ahead from the IWC’s full scientific committee in May.

In one of several letters sent to and published by the commission, Joji Morishita, Japan’s IWC commissioner, said that the country had “sincerely taken into account” the recommendations of the group. Ultimately, however, they concluded that no “substantial changes” had to be made to “the contents of NEWREP-A,” and that the program would be launched next summer.

Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt told Sky News that his country “strongly opposes” the decision, and that Japan “cannot unilaterally decide whether it has adequately addressed the scientific committee’s questions.” Hunt added that Australia would “continue to pursue the issue through the International Whaling Commission and in direct discussions with Japan.”

Advocacy group World Animal Protection said via Twitter that they were “appalled” at Japan’s decision to resume the program, and UK environment ministry, Defra, told BBC News that they were “deeply disappointed with Japan’s decision to restart whaling in the Southern Ocean. This undermines the global ban on commercial whaling which the UK strongly supports.”

—–

Feature Image: Thinkstock

Comments

comments