Did Japan’s Whale Hunt Just Get Harpooned?
Source: Take Part
By David Kirby
Japan wants to kill nearly 4,000 minke whales in the Southern Ocean over the next 12 years, but an expert panel convened by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has shot down the country’s latest proposal to conduct the hunt.
Japan insists that its annual Antarctic whale hunt is undertaken for “scientific research,” but on Monday, an IWC-appointed panel rejected that claim. “The current proposal does not demonstrate the need for lethal sampling to achieve those objectives,” the panel stated in a report.
The IWC did not respond to an interview request. But Patrick Ramage, global whale program director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said the panel report “essentially blackballed” Japan’s efforts.
“The independent panel is publically saying there’s no scientific justification for continuing to kill whales,” Ramage said. “The new Japanese proposal strongly resembles the previous program, and it’s hard to see how they proceed defying both the world court and the IWC by sending their fleet back to Antarctica.”
FULL story at link
April 14, 2015 By David Kirby
David Kirby has been a professional journalist for 25 years. His third book, Death at Seaworld, was published in 2012.
(Photo: Reuters)
Read more: http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/04/14/are-japans-whale-hunting-days-numbered
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