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In 1987, Japan began to kill 300 whales a year in the Antarctic,
exploiting a loophole in the IWC rules that allows countries to
issue permits to kill whales for lethal research. The whale meat
from this 'research' ends up for sale on the domestic market at
a value of about four billion yen each year.
Japanese "scientific" whaling in the
Southern ocean. © Greenpeace 2000 |
Indeed, when Japan's whaling programme was launched in 1987,
some of Japan's domestic press reported that the programme was
intended to keep the commercial whaling industry alive until
the moratorium could be overturned. And the alleged scientific
data gained through Japan's whale hunt is, according to a panel
of IWC scientists, not needed. |
The goal of Japan's 'research' in the Antarctic is to provide information
that would allow any quotas set there to be increased, but the IWC
has designated the area a whale sanctuary, where no commercial quotas
will be set. Each year since 1987, the IWC has criticised Japan's
programme in a series of increasingly strong resolutions, calling
on Japan to stop whaling.
So far the Japanese whaling fleet has taken 5,760 whales under
the guise of 'scientific' whaling since the IWC moratorium came
into effect. In 2000, Japan expanded its hunt in the North Pacific,
aiming to take 10 Sperm and 50 Bryde's whales in addition to
its yearly 'scientific' catch of 100 Minke. This year they will
further expand the hunt taking 50 endangered Sei whales.
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Resulting Japanese research. © Greenpeace |
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whales | whaling | environmental impacts | solutions | greenpeace & the whales
