Japan confirms plan to resume commercial whaling in its waters from next year

Japan will resume commercial whaling next year for the first time in more than three decades, in a move that has provoked strong criticism from campaigners and the international community.

Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said his nation would leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume hunting the marine mammals in Japanese waters.

However, he stated the activity would be limited to Japan’s territory and the 200 mile exclusive economic zone along its coasts.

This means controversial “scientific” trips to Antarctica in which Japanese vessels killed hundreds of whales, as well as activity in the northwest Pacific, will stop in 2019.

The return to commercial whaling will be “in line with Japan’s basic policy of promoting sustainable use of aquatic living resources based on scientific evidence”, said Mr Suga.

“Regrettably, we have reached a decision that it is impossible in the IWC to seek the coexistence of states with different views.”

Media reports began to circulate last week that Japan intended to pull out of the IWC, which includes 89 member countries and is intended to govern global whaling operations.

Mr Suga said the commission was dominated by conservationists and was not fulfilling its role to aid the development of the whaling industry.

The IWC banned commercial whaling in 1986 after growing international pressure due to dwindling whale numbers around the world.

Since then some whale populations have shown remarkable recoveries from the brink of extinction.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature recently announced fin whale numbers had doubled since before the ban came into effect.

However, Norway, Iceland and Japan have continued to flout the ban, with the latter killing hundreds of whales every year in the guise of “scientific” whaling, claiming numbers have sufficiently recovered.

Meat from these “research” trips is still sold on the Japanese market, despite decreasing demand for it from the younger population.

Japan’s IWC withdrawal may be a face-saving measure to bring an end to its ambitious Antarctic hunts, restricting operations to those around its coastline.

Mr Suga said Japan will notify the commission of its decision by the end of the year, and stated it remains committed to international cooperation on management of marine resources.

While both Australia and New Zealand welcomed Japan’s withdrawal from the Southern Ocean, strong criticism was levelled at the decision to quit the IWC.

The Australian government, which has often been a vocal critic of Japan’s whaling policies, said it was “extremely disappointed” by the move.

“Australia remains resolutely opposed to all forms of commercial and so-called ‘scientific’ whaling,” the country’s environment minister, Melissa Price, and foreign minister, Marise Payne, said in a statement.

Environmental group Greenpeace condemned the decision and disputed Japan’s view that whale stocks have recovered, saying ocean life is being threatened by pollution as well as overfishing.

“The declaration today is out of step with the international community, let alone the protection needed to safeguard the future of our oceans and these majestic creatures,” said Sam Annesley, executive director at Greenpeace Japan.

“The government of Japan must urgently act to conserve marine ecosystems, rather than resume commercial whaling.”

The move means Japan will join Iceland and Norway in openly defying the decades-old ban set by the IWC.

In September, at a meeting of the commission in Brazil, an attempt to overturn the ban was defeated by anti-whaling nations, prompting fears that Japan’s IWC departure was imminent.

Additional reporting by agencies