Japan vows to keep on whaling, calls resolution against its hunt "regrettable"

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Japan vows to keep on whaling, calls resolution against its hunt "regrettable"
Source: Reuters - Fri, 19 Sep 2014 03:14 GMT

TOKYO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Japan vowed on Friday to resume its whaling programme in the Antarctic despite passage of a resolution opposing its hunt by the international body that oversees whales, terming the negative vote regrettable.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) on Thursday adopted a resolution saying that Japan should abide by a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) earlier this year that its decades-old and disputed "scientific whaling" programme was illegal and should stop.

The surprise March ruling by the ICJ was a blow to Japan, which maintains that whaling is an important part of its culture, and prompted it to call off its 2014-2015 hunt in the Southern Ocean. It still carried out a scaled-down version of its less known Northern Pacific hunt.

Participants at the IWC's biennial meeting in Slovenia passed the non-binding resolution by a 35-20 majority, a move that Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said was "extremely regrettable."


Read more: http://www.trust.org/item/20140919031435-xseg5/

[sakabatou]

1. The Sea Shepard must be happy

[shenmue]

2. Yep

Go get 'em, Sea Shepherd.

[Justitia]

3. anyone who values oceanic wildlife is happy -eom

[MFM008]

4. a new season for Sea Shepard

on Animal Planet.......

[yuiyoshida]

5. I don't understand this

stubbornness they have not to stop. Its not necessary. They know the world view, and yet go on with it.. Most Japanese I have talked to don't even see the need for it.. why is it so important that they have to continue doing this? Makes no sense.

[L0oniX]

8. Let me know when they stop murdering dolphins.

[Recursion]

6. I'm sympathetic to the Native American groups who want to hunt in a canoe with a hand-thrown harpoon

But for Japan to hide commercial whaling behind that same rubric is appalling.

[L0oniX]

7. ...and they also keep murdering dolphins.

[Sunlei]

9. Japan lies when they call it "scientific whaling". ships are canning factories, that rape the seas

[groundloop]

10. Exactly. There needs to be strong sanctions against Japan until they stop.

It would be one thing if in fact they were doing actual research which would in some way benefit the whale populations or the oceans, but they're not. It's nothing more than a commercial whale harvest. The rest of the civilized world needs to boycott Japanese goods until they come in line with international law.

[Sunlei]

11. Japan will not even share dna with 'real' whale research groups. Every whale is known & DNAed.

Any animal that has one young about every 1.5-2 years will be driven extinct from hunting pressure.

[ozone_man]

12. I wonder if boycott would work?

I drive a Subaru, but I don't have to and I'm ready for a new car. Maybe a Ford or VW? Tough to give up the Sony brand too, but there are alternatives.

It seemed to work with South Africa and apartheid.