Japan has resumed its controversial lethal research whaling because it wants to determine how many minke whales can be harvested sustainably while studying the environment, Joji Morishita, the nation's representative to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), told a press conference here today. “We’d like to find out how the marine ecosystem of the Antarctic Ocean is actually shifting or changing and not just look at whales but [also at] krill and the oceanographic situation,” Morishita said.
IWC’s Scientific Committee examined the new program but last June reported that it could not reach consensus on the overall program. However, an appended statement signed by 44 scientists from 18 countries disputed the notion that there is a scientific justification for killing whales.
Morishita had little to say about a report in The Sydney Morning Herald today that Australia is considering bringing Japan back to the ICJ to halt the whaling program. Japan’s move has also drawn the ire of conservation groups. “We demand that the government respect the international rules and not carry out any new research whaling program,” Greenpeace Japan said in a statement released last week. “This new plan is the same plan that the expert panel of the International Whaling Commission in January concluded did not demonstrate the need for lethal sampling.”
Japan defends scientific value of new plan to kill 333 minke whales
IWC’s Scientific Committee examined the new program but last June reported that it could not reach consensus on the overall program. However, an appended statement signed by 44 scientists from 18 countries disputed the notion that there is a scientific justification for killing whales.
Morishita had little to say about a report in The Sydney Morning Herald today that Australia is considering bringing Japan back to the ICJ to halt the whaling program. Japan’s move has also drawn the ire of conservation groups. “We demand that the government respect the international rules and not carry out any new research whaling program,” Greenpeace Japan said in a statement released last week. “This new plan is the same plan that the expert panel of the International Whaling Commission in January concluded did not demonstrate the need for lethal sampling.”
Japan defends scientific value of new plan to kill 333 minke whales
