Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening - (04 Apr 2016)

Japanese whalers hunt over 200 pregnant whales for ‘science’

Environment

Japanese fishermen’s haul of whales from their recent expedition in the Antarctic was met with an unsurprisingly apoplectic reaction from neighbouring countries. Of the 333 whales brought back by Japanese ‘scientists’ - a self-imposed quota - over 200 were pregnant females. Though commercial whaling is banned, Japan exercises the ‘scientific research’ leeway to continue hunting the mammals.

In 2014 the International Court of Justice banned Japanese whaling activities. It had rejected the JARPA - Japan’s Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Antarctic - justification for being insufficiently scientific, but stopped short of banning whaling for research purposes. Irony was not lost on the ICJ as it grasped the scientific purpose behind JARPA: “research proposals for both programmes describe research broadly aimed at elucidating the role of minke whales in the Antarctic ecosystem” - which peculiarly involved slaughtering the subject.

And determining whether whale populations are stable and sustainable for commercial whaling to resume was the rationale expounded by Japan for its latest seaborne abattoir. The World Wildlife Fund lists whales as an endangered species, facing threats not only from hunters but also oil and gas drilling activities and shrinking habitats.

Tags : JAPAN WHALING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH BAN