Whaling is frowned upon by the whole world. But, the Japanese seem to prefer it still. (Image via: ABC)

Commercial Whale Hunting Begins in Japan

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Market & Investment
Japan Market
Jul 01, 2019
2385
YAMAGUCHI - This morning, a whaling boat was seen departing from Shimonoseki port, Yamaguchi prefecture. On Monday (1/7), Japanese whale hunters began to drift offshore to catch whales. “Whaling”, the activity of hunting whales for food and commodities, is frowned upon by most people in the world. Not only is it archaic, but also it is a possible threat to the whale’s population. Therefore, this sailing made most people in the world see red.

All animal conservationists from all over the world took this matter seriously, as they sent a letter to all world leaders at G20 Summit in Osaka, crying out for an absolute, immediate stop to whale hunting.

The Japanese began to hunt whales commercially for the first time in 31 years. All these years, they have been hunting whales for “scientific” purposes. This was a decision following Japan’s withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) at the end of 2018.

Following the withdrawal, Japan had stated beforehand that they would continue whaling in July 2019, an activity banned according to 1986 IWC moratorium. Even though the 1986 moratorium stated such, Japan always finds a way to hunt Japan legally by stating that those whales were used for scientific purposes.

In September 2018, however, members of IWC finally concluded that whaling for scientific purposes is forbidden. Therefore, Japan withdrew from IWC. Some members of IWC and critics assumed that Japan was trying to push “scientific” whaling while trying to enact a law to proceed commercial whaling once and for all. The Japanese stated that they would hunt whales where the population is still healthy.

Various criticisms came from whale conservation organizations, and some countries were quite disappointed by Japan’s action to quit IWC. Australia, for example, regretted the withdrawal and suggested that Japan should come back to IWC, just 3 weeks after Japan's action to withdraw from the commission.

“The action (withdrawal from IWC) was a huge step-back from preserving marine lives. The Japanese government should act in order to preserve it,” stated Sam Anneley, executive director at Greenpeace Japan.

On the other hand, Masayuki Komatsu, Japanese negotiator between Japan and IWC, stated likewise. Japan should return to IWC, or else, they would see whaling end in a hard way. Komatsu added that Japan’s withdrawal from IWC means that the Japanese whaling industry is walking toward its end.

Japanese people have been consuming whale meat since it was the only source of protein then, post-World War II. However, as the time passed by, Japanese people grew tired of eating whale meat and there emerged activists calling for the Japanese government to abandon such practice, calling it bad for environment and wildlife, according to the data published by Iruka and Kujira (Dolphin and Whale) Action Network (IKAN).

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/national/after-decades-japan-courts-controversy-resuming-commercial-whaling

Japan , Food , Whaling , IWC , Environment , Ecology , Biology