Publication - May 18, 2002
On the 6th November 2001, the Japanese whaling fleet left for Antarctic waters to hunt 440 minkewhales. Japan claims that this hunt is for 'scientific research' but in reality it is just one tactic in along-term strategy orchestrated by the Fisheries Agency of Japan (FAJ) to re-establish large-scalecommercial whaling.
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Executive summary: It was only when many whale populations had been heavily depleted, after decades of uncontrolledwhaling, that the IWC finally agreed to stop commercial whaling. A moratorium came into effect in1986 and many of the countries that voted for it had once been whaling nations. Nine countries werestill whaling when the moratorium was agreed but they had all given up by 1990 – except for Norwayand Japan.Japan has always steadfastly rejected moves to protect whales. In 1964, when the IWC decided toban hunting blue whales in the Antarctic (after a total catch in the Antarctic of 112 the year before), itwas Japan that filed the first objection and blocked protection. When catching of minke whalesstarted in the Antarctic in the early 1970s and the IWC tried to set a quota at 5,000, Japan joined theUSSR in filing objections and setting a higher quota for themselves. When the moratorium begun in1985/86 Japan and the USSR continued whaling under objections – catching 5000 whales a seasonfor two more seasons.In 1987 Japan was forced, by pressure from the United States, to withdraw its objection to themoratorium, but it had no intention of giving up its Antarctic whaling and immediately instigated a‘scientific’ whaling programme. Under the IWC rules countries are permitted to issue permits forlethal research. It was all Japan needed - a loophole to give its whaling a thin veil of respectability.Japan’s own media reported that the 'scientific' whaling was a means of keeping the industry aliveuntil a way could be found to reverse the moratorium decision.
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