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Japan announced its withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on Wednesday with the aim of resuming commercial whaling in July. challenge cetacean defenders 30 years after officially closed, at least officially.
In fact, Japan has never completely stopped whaling using a 1986 moratorium clause allowing the capture of these animals for research purposes
But now he will resume hunting publicly for commercial purposes, as is already done in Iceland and Norway
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters sent a message similar to Tokyo, in which he was described as "very disappointing" and urged Japan to reconsider its position. an "outdated and useless practice."
However, Japan will not hunt in the "waters of Antarctica or the southern hemisphere," said Yoshihide Suga, the government representative on the subject.
"The hunt will be limited to Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, according to the CBI catch quotas so as not to deplete the resources," he said.
The government expects the IWC to enter into force on June 30th.
– "The way forward" –
Suga justified his decision by "the absence of concessions from countries only engaged in the protection of whales, despite the scientific evidence that confirms the whales". abundance of certain species of whales ".
The discrepancy was evident at the last meeting of the IWC in September, prompting Japan to take this step, said the government representative.
The Tokyo idea was to apply a dual approach within the IWC, an organization comprising 89 member countries, to include conservation and whaling. The latter was reportedly run by a "sustainable whaling committee".
But the countries that defend whales, with Australia, the European Union and the United States in the foreground, rejected the Japanese text, with 41 votes against 27.
Vice Minister of Fisheries, Masaaki Taniai, regretted the result of the vote and mentioned the possibility of leaving the IWC as a last resort.
The Japanese government thus opens a new battlefront between critics and advocates of cetacean hunting, which the Japanese, especially the most nationalists, regard as an important Japanese tradition.
"We hope this decision will pbad it on to the next one."
Several members of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), the conservative party of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, defend "the richness of this culture". "
" It is clear that the government is trying to make this announcement quietly, at the end of the year, far from the international press, but the world does not do it. it's silly, "said Sam Annesley, director of the Japanese Greenpeace unit.
" Japan's decision is completely out of step with the international community and ignores the need to protect our oceans and these majestic creatures, "he added.
According to the HSI, Japan is the main financial contributor to the Whaling Commission, which must be able to protect the whale population.
Despite the argument scientist invoked by Japan three decades ago to hunt whales, cetacean meat is found at the counters of fishmongers.
Although it is a fundamental source of protein at In the early post-war years, most Japanese say they do not consume whale meat or very rarely.
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