Killing whales: Let’s ‘agree to disagree’, says Japan

“We consider that there is no scientific basis for the slaughter of whales and strongly urge the government of Japan not to allow it to go ahead”, Key said.

The whaling commissioner made heaven and earth meet in an effort to convince the International Court of Justice that the intentions of the Japanese were wholeheartedly for the good and scientific in nature. However, conservationists from all over the world say this is nothing more than circumventing commercial whaling ban – when the “science” finishes the job, whale remains are dismembered and sold in the fish markets.

The two ministries jointly described Japan’s decision to resume whaling as “deeply disappointing”, and insisted the Australian Government would “continue to raise our concerns at the highest level of the Japanese Government”.

In March 2014, the International Court of Justice found that Japan’s “scientific” JARPA II whaling programme was not for the purposes of research and must cease. It has been deemed intolerable that Japan is continuing with their project in spite of explicit refusal from the ICJ and the IWC. What is even more surprising is the odd history behind how the Japanese began whaling, and how this tradition seems to be falling to the wayside.

“The picture in (my) mind is the same as the whale controversy”, he said.

Australia’s foreign and environmental ministers said in a statement Monday the country was considering legal action along with 32 other nations to oppose a Japanese whaling expedition that left last week.

Australia has claimed lethal research is unnecessary. Tokyo makes no secret that the meat of animals in Japan is consumed.

There were mass whale killings in the past decades done by the Soviet Union. She added that the aim of her and Sea Shepherd’s is to end whaling. However, under the exemption of research, Japan continued to hunt down and kill the marine mammals.

“New Zealand’s long-standing and fundamental opposition to this practice remains unchanged”, he said over the weekend.

“We think the moratorium isn’t working”, Monica Medina, the United States’ representative to the IWC, told Time in 2010.

Let us take a few steps back in history, but not before mentioning that NEWREP-A would only see about 300 whales hunted yearly under the new framework. Here, it must be mentioned that Shimonoseki, other than being a part of the election district of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is also home to Japan’s whaling fleet. Experts agree that introduction of strict quotas would prove wise in the matter of global whaling.