Japan Seeks To End Ban On Commercial Whaling

The Guardian reports:

Japan has launched a controversial bid to end the ban on commercial whaling, claiming that populations of certain types of whale have recovered sufficiently to allow the resumption of “sustainable” hunting.

Representatives of Japan’s 70-strong delegation at this week’s International Whaling Commission [IWC] meeting in Florianópolis, Brazil, argued that the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling was intended to be a temporary measure, and accused the IWC of abandoning its original purpose – managing the sustainable use of global whale stocks.

“Science is clear: there are certain species of whales whose population is healthy enough to be harvested sustainably,” the Japanese proposal, titled Way Forward, said. “Japan proposes to establish a committee dedicated to sustainable whaling (including commercial whaling and aboriginal subsistence whaling).”