As the world has abandoned whaling, traditional Japanese people still exalts it high. (Image via: ABC)

Japan, Whaling Time Is Up! Why Even Bother?

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Market & Investment
Japan Market
Jul 02, 2019
2685
It is an old tradition revived just at the wrong time. Starting Monday (1/7), Japan officially stated that they would hunt whales commercially, for the 1st time since 30 years. Japan decided to walk out of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 2018, and stated afterward that they would continue commercial whaling started in July 2019, which is this month. Previously, Japan covered their whaling activities by saying that it was for scientific purposes. But, since IWC stated last year that scientific whaling is also a “No”, then Japan decided to walk off in late 2018.

Japan actually did not agree with IWC moratorium in 1980 which states that whaling for commercial purposes is forbidden, since in the past and even until now, Japan relies on whale’s meat as one of the main sources for protein. Their rejection was filed in 1982. However, threatened by the U.S., they decided to withdraw their rejection in 1987.

Currently, Japan’s Fisheries Agency stated that they had set a “friendly” quota for whaling, in order to allow them to hunt whales for the next 100 years. The quota was set to 227 minkes, Bryde and Sei whales for the next 6 months. For the whale meat caught within coastal waters, they are expected to be presented fresh at whaling hubs, but for the whale meat caught within international waters, they will be frozen and distributed to the large Japanese market.

As time passed by, Japan still has not abandoned the practice of whaling as it has become one of their traditions to which they adhered firmly. However, is it safe to say that they should have abandoned the practice?

More and more Japanese whaling companies became skeptical about the whaling industry in Japan. As criticisms and protests from international groups rose up, the whaling became fewer as it went on. Even worse, Japan’s quota for research whaling fell down and they lost about US$15 million in 2018.

Noting that the present generation starts to abandon whale consumption, in recent years, the amount of whale consumption decreased rapidly to as low as 5,000 tons, from its peak in the 1960s, 200,000 tons. The fact makes many whalers uneasy.

They pointed out that Japanese youths are the key to the rise of the whaling industry. However, with the present generation being more aware of the global environment and issue, seems like Japan most likely has to abandon it for good.

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/01/japan-whale-conservation-country-resumes-commercial-whaling-culture/1615519001/

Market , Japan , Whaling , Ecology , Population , Whale , IWC