Despite a ruling by theInternational Court of Justice(ICJ ) last year that the practice is illegal , after a twelve - calendar month hiatus Japan is set to resume its one-year giant hunting in Antarctic water this December . Fridaymarkedthe third time in fifteen calendar month that experts have conclude that the hunt has no basis in science .
TheInternational Whaling Commission(IWC ) , a voluntary understanding between nations that banish the practice of commercial whaling in 1986 , and of which Japan is a signer , hascalledon the state to providemore evidencethat the James Henry Leigh Hunt has a logical scientific basis . The IWC claims that it is not possible to make a consensus on the report that is presently submitted . Out of the 33 countries present at the coming together to discuss Japan ’s whaling venture , 18 were not satisfied , with 44 scientist save that “ the penury for lethal sample has not been demonstrated . ”
Aftera rulinglast year that saw Australia win a causa claim that Japan was exploit a grommet hole in the IWC whaling ban , mean that their practice kill of up to 900 minke giant per twelvemonth was deemed illegal , the Carry Nation aim a recess from whale : the first since 1987 . This arrive after the res publica failed to meet its ego - enforce quotas of the old few years , chiefly as a result of the conservation chemical group Sea Shepherd , which actively tag the boat and prevents them from obliterate the cetaceans .
Since last class , though , Japan has drawn up a new marriage proposal that it take has address the issues of the tourist court . They release the new account , call the “ New Scientific Whale Research Program in the Antarctic Ocean ( NEWREP - A ) , ” which has a reduced quota to 333 whales a class for the next 12 years . The Japanese scientist also say that the ICJ opinion does not actually rule out “ lethal sampling ” completely ; there just needs to be inviolable scientific reasoning .
“ The result , with Japan disagreeing with adept control board conclusions about a lack of justification for lethal sampling , was not a surprisal , ” Phil Clapham , a cetacean biologist with theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , toldScience . “ There is very little doubtfulness that Japan will go whaling in the next Antarctic time of year no matter what experts say about it . ”
The Nipponese research worker say that the data point they pick up is necessary to best sympathise the whale universe in the southern oceans . They say that their “ enquiry ” enables them to gain information of the animal ’s age , sexual activity , matureness and feeding habits , which can then be used by the IWC to imbibe up more refined program for the sustainable harvest of whales . The fact that the nitty-gritty also happens to end up on a shell is just to recover some of the research costs , they claim . Their opposite , however , say that all this information can be gained through non - deadly method .
