Japan plans to resume whale hunts in the Antarctic later this year, it said, even though the International Whaling Commission said Tokyo has not proven that the mammals must be killed for research.
The commission’s Scientific Committee said in a report issued on Friday that it was not able to determine whether lethal sampling is necessary for whale stock management and conservation. In April, a commission experts’ panel made similar comments about a revised Japanese antarctic whaling plan submitted after the International Court of Justice ruled last year that Japan’s earlier hunts were not scientific.
The commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, but Japan continued hunting whales under an exemption for research.
After the court’s ruling, Japan sent a nonlethal expedition to the Antarctic for last year’s season.
Japanese officials on Friday said they would submit additional data to support their plan, adding that the nation still plans to resume whaling in the Antarctic this winter season.
“We have not changed any policies and our goal,” Japanese commission representative Joji Morishita told reporters.
Japan would respond sincerely to “scientifically backed comments” in Friday’s report, he said, but accused the document of lacking consensus.
Reflecting the sharp divide among the nearly 90 member nations of the international body, the report laid out both sides of the issue.
Under Tokyo’s revised proposal for the upcoming whaling season, it would catch 333 minke whales each year from this year until 2027, about one-third of what it used to target.
Japan’s actual catch has fallen in recent years, in part because of declining domestic demand for whale meat.
Protests by activist group Sea Shepherd also contributed to the lower catch. The Japanese government has spent large amounts of tax money to sustain whaling operations.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was