2017/10: Should Japan resume commercial whaling?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On July 7, 2017, United News International televised a report detailing a new law which the Whaling Affairs Office at Japan's Fisheries Agency said would help categorize whaling as a “national responsibility". The law has been presented as a lead-in to a return to commercial whaling. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'Perhaps if we renamed minke whales the "kangaroos of the sea", the Australian public would support their sustainable use'
Japan's IWC representative, Minoru Moritomo, accusing Australia of hypocrisy regarding its opposition to whaling
'Whales are the largest animals on the planet - which means killing one is no easy task. The practice of whale hunting is therefore one of unimaginable cruelty and suffering'
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
The issue at a glance
On July 6, 2017, the Japan Parliament passed a law enshrining the practice of whaling and announcing it would upgrade its fleet of vessels in a step toward returning to commercial whaling. The new whaling act set out Japan's plan to one day resume commercial whaling.
Director of the whaling affairs office at Japan's fisheries agency, Shigeki Takaya, has stated that Japan would soon recommence the commercial practice. Mr Takaya claimed, 'Japan's fundamental policy on whaling is to conduct scientific research in order to bring about the swift resumption of commercial whaling.'
Japan's current whaling for research purposes is opposed under international conservation law. The hardened stance, sanctioning commercial whaling under Japanese domestic law, will have no impact on international prohibitions. The International Whaling Commission will continue to ban commercial whaling.
The Japanese law seeks to guarantee funding for research whaling through the Japanese national budget as well as adding additional resources for defending Japanese whalers from protest groups like Sea Shepherd. The new law will allocate 5 billion Japanese yen, or about $58 million, every year to the whaling program.
Australia, a vocal opponent of Japanese whaling activity in the Antarctic and other southern waters, is expected to protest against the new law.