ALL pretence of being 鈥渟cientific鈥� has now been dropped. On 30 June, Japan formally left the , which sets global rules for whale conservation. On 1 July, .
The minke was Japan鈥檚 first whale caught in an openly commercial operation for 31聽years. The country has hunted whales in that time under the pretext of scientific research, but it has long petitioned to return to commercial whaling. When its last proposal was voted down by the IWC in September, Japan pledged to leave the commission.
The country鈥檚 Fisheries Agency has聽set聽a six-month quota of 52 minke, 150 Bryde鈥檚 and 25 sei whales, saying it expects a smaller catch than during聽its 鈥渟cientific鈥� operation in the聽Southern Ocean and north-west Pacific. The agency claims this harvest could be聽sustainable for 100聽years.
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The IWC must now investigate the evidence, if any, for that claim. Given聽the threats to whales from shipping, pollution and climate change,聽it seems dubious at best.
There was never any scientific justification for whaling: Japan鈥檚 operation provided little or no reliable ecological data. There is no economic justification for commercial whaling, either. Consumption of whale meat in Japan has fallen from 200,000聽tonnes per year in the 1960s to 3000聽tonnes today, and the industry is propped up by聽government subsidies. As for any cultural rationale, polls show no great groundswell among the Japanese population in support of whaling.
Some have argued that whale numbers globally will benefit from Japan鈥檚 unilateral move, since its whaling will now be confined to its territorial waters. But taking more creatures out of聽the ocean anywhere in the world is the聽last thing we ought to be doing.
Environmental progress happens when countries work together under international agreements, not when they go it alone. Japan has a reputation for modernity, but in whaling, it is desperately out of date.
