Is It Legal to Hunt Whales in Japan

A single blue whale, for example, eats up to 4,000 kg (8,800 lbs) of krill per day over a four-month period. But whales don`t eat all the krill. They regenerate krill by fertilizing the phytoplankton on which krill depend. The researchers found that when baleen whales are killed in the Southern Ocean, krill numbers decrease, which then affects the entire food chain. When whales are present, the krill they consume is more than enough for themselves and any other marine life, fish and birds that feed on krill. Scientific whaling is permitted under Article VIII of the IWC Convention. Article VIII states that any Member State may authorise its nationals to capture or kill whales for scientific purposes. Unlike international regulations for commercial and native whaling, scientific research and the number of whales killed for scientific purposes are one-sided. Although the IWC Scientific Committee (SC) has attempted to conduct an expert assessment of national research plans, countries that practice scientific whaling, particularly Japan, still use scientific whaling as an alibi for their whaling surplus. [150] The countries where commercial whaling continues are Japan, Norway and Iceland. Norway kills the most whales of the three countries.

Iceland announced in February 2022 that it would cease its commercial whaling practices by 2024. Japan had imported Icelandic whale meat, but in 2019 it abandoned the international agreement banning whaling and resumed commercial whaling. In 2007, the IWC passed a resolution calling on Japan not to allow lethal search in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary – Japan`s main whaling area. [212] Following a visit by the IWC President to Tokyo, during which he asked the Japanese to cooperate in resolving disputes between pro- and anti-whaling nations in the Commission, the Japanese whaling fleet agreed that no humpback whales would be caught in the two years it would take the IWC to reach a formal agreement. [213] The impact on J-stock whales protected by the IWC appears to have increased with changes to Japanese regulations that legalized the sale of bycatch in 2001. Between 1997 and 2000, only 19 to 29 whales were reported as bycatch each year. This number increased to 89 – 137 per year between 2001 and 2004. However, based on genetic data, the study concluded that the actual amount of by-catch was similar before the 2001 regulation, but that too little was reported. Up to 46% of the samples tested turned out to be J-Stock. [138] However, Article VIII of the IWC`s founding treaty allows countries to issue “special permits” for scientific research.

To avoid waste, the article states: “All whales caught under these special permits must. and the product is processed in accordance with government instructions.” In fact, this means that whales caught for scientific research can be sold. Fisheries Secretary Richard Benyon made clear the UK`s opposition: “Japan`s slaughter of whales, supposedly in the name of science, is cruel and scientifically unnecessary. We call on Japan to put an end to these unnecessary killings. It undermines international efforts to conserve and protect whales and contradicts the spirit of the International Whaling Commission`s moratorium on commercial whaling. There is absolutely no justification for continuing whaling and we will continue to oppose whaling at every opportunity. In 2009, published DNA analysis of whale meat from Japanese markets indicated that up to 150 large whales from threatened coastal stocks were caught annually as bycatch. Japan legally allows the commercial sale of randomly caught whales entangled in fishing nets designed to catch coastal fish. Market studies have also uncovered migratory whales such as humpback whales[131][132] and endangered gray whales,[133][134] as well as endangered fin whales[135][136] and non-endangered Bryde`s whales. [137] In the 1980s, the International Whaling Commission agreed to a moratorium on commercial whaling, after which whaling is banned in almost all countries. (Dolphins, technically a type of whale, are hunted for their meat and also for sale to marine parks. Dolphins are not considered whales in the sense of the international whaling industry.) Under the banner of “scientific research,” Japan has killed more than 14,000 whales, resulting in only two international peer-reviewed scientific papers and achieving none of its stated goals.

The mountain of whale meat that has accumulated is nearly 5,000 tons. The number of whales killed by Japan has surpassed any other country`s scientific whaling programs throughout history. In 1987, taking advantage of a loophole in international regulations, Japan continued commercial-scale whaling under the banner of “scientific research,” which also allowed Japan to set its own quota of whales to be killed for scientific research. Japanese whaling in terms of active whaling is estimated by the Japan Whaling Association in the 12th century. [1] However, Japanese whaling on an industrial scale began around the 1890s, when Japan began to participate in the modern whaling industry, an industry in which many countries participated. [2] Modern Japanese whaling activities have extended far beyond Japanese territorial waters, including whale sanctuaries protected by other countries. [3] During the 2018/2019 season, they captured 333 minke whales in the Southern Ocean. In 2017/18, 85 minke whales were captured in their coastal waters and 134 sei whales and 43 minke whales were captured in the North Pacific. Atsushi Ishii, a Japanese political scientist and professor at Tohoku University`s Center for Northeast Asian Studies, explained in his 2011 book Kaitai Shinso: Hogei Ronso (“Anatomy of the Whaling Debate”) that Japan was using the activities of conservationists like Sea Shepherd as an excuse to save face to stop unprofitable whaling in Antarctica. Ishii argues that the activities of environmentalists and animal rights activists were actually counterproductive because they fueled nationalism and increased demand for whale meat in Japan. Ishii predicted that Japan would shift its whaling to coastal waters and the Pacific Northwest. [103] Whales were brought to the brink of extinction by hunting in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the 1960s, more efficient fishing methods and huge factory ships made it clear that whaling could not remain uncontrolled. The global moratorium on commercial whaling was agreed in 1982 and introduced in 1985. As part of its whaling research, Japan has captured up to 1,200 whales per year. The practice was criticized because the meat was sold on the market. The country has drastically reduced its catch in recent years after international protests increased and whale meat consumption plummeted. The subject of whaling is an important aspect of the economic history of the United States and the Industrial Revolution. Commercial whaling is also part of an ongoing conversation about the plight of whales and other victims of the intensive industrial extraction of the planet`s natural resources. “The government has said it cannot release indefinitely what is supposed to be a trade concern,” she says. “When Japan left the IWC, fisheries officials thought they could catch as many whales as they needed to support the industry, but in fact it has declined. Japanese whaling continues, but in a much smaller form.

The most vocal opponents of Japanese pressure for a resumption of commercial whaling are Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. W. Nicol, who was a sympathizer of the Japanese whaling industry) or national media reports in Japan,[148] had been discriminated against. [147] Some of them, including former fishermen who were ostracized in their communities, later became whale watching operators. [149] Several other visits were conducted by former whalers or dolphin hunters, such as to Abashiri, Muroto, etc. The way whales are killed is considered cruel because the harpoons that explode there are often not immediately deadly. Before being harpooned, they are “pursued to exhaustion,” according to IFAW`s website. Like its predecessor, the JARPA II whaling research program took place near Antarctica.