IFAW: Japan urged to turn whaling fleet around

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is urging Japan to recall its whaling fleet which is heading to Antarctica to hunt almost 1,000 whales.

In defiance of global pressure and several international laws, the government of Japan’s whaling fleet has quietly left harbour without its usual public fanfare and is now en route to the pristine Southern Ocean Sanctuary to harpoon around 850 whales, including 50 endangered fin whales.

Legal analyses by international panels of independent legal experts convened in Paris, London and Sydney have found Japan’s expanding commercial, or so-called ‘scientific’ whaling to be in violation of several international laws and treaties. These include IWC regulations, the Antarctic Treaty System and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Despite a worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling, Japan hunts whales in Antarctica under the loophole of “scientific whaling”. However, very little research is produced and with expanding hunt quotas and whale meat on sale in supermarkets and restaurants, this is clearly commercial whaling by another name.

The future of whaling is among issues due to be discussed at a closed door meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Cambridge, UK, in December. Japan recently announced that it would again suspend plans to harpoon 50 humpback whales at the request of the IWC while talks continue, but it is not suspending the rest of its “scientific” whaling programme.

Robbie Marsland, UK Director of IFAW, said: “For the 21st consecutive year, Japan is blatantly disregarding international laws and treaties by setting off to kill whales in the Southern Ocean.

“IFAW opposes commercial whaling because it is unacceptably cruel. We urge Japan to abandon its whaling programme and recall its fleet. As a sign of good faith, Japan should not be killing whales while IWC member countries are still debating the future of commercial whaling.”

If Japan refuses to suspend its whaling programme, IFAW believes a legal case should be heard before international courts and tribunals.

Japan’s whalers have killed 8,728 whales in the Southern Ocean since 1987 when they first used the cover of “scientific research” to get around the international whaling ban.

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For further information please contact:

Clare Sterling at IFAW on 020 7587 6708, mobile 07917 507717, or email csterling@ifaw.org

Alternatively visit www.ifaw.org

Notes to Editors:

The second Small Working Group meeting of the IWC is due to take place in Cambridge from December 8.

IFAW is concerned that the IWC’s closed door negotiations could lead to the lifting of the ban on commercial whaling in some form.

The ban on commercial whaling needs to be strengthened, not weakened, as whales around the world face more threats than ever before from whaling, ship strikes, entanglements, pollution and man-made ocean noise.

Responsible whale watching offers a humane alternative to the cruelty of commercial whaling.