Japan proposed an end to a ban on commercial whaling at an international conference on Monday, sparking criticism. Japan’s representatives argued at an International Whaling Commission…
Japan proposed an end to a ban on commercial whaling at an international conference on Monday, sparking criticism.
Japan’s representatives argued at an International Whaling Commission meeting that the populations of some whales that are protected under the decades-long ban have sufficiently recovered enough to be hunted, the Guardian reports.
They argued that the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling was originally implemented to manage the sustainable use of global whale stocks and intended to be temporary.
“Science is clear: there are certain species of whales whose population is healthy enough to be harvested sustainably,” the Japanese proposal said, according to the international news outlet. “Japan proposes to establish a committee dedicated to sustainable whaling (including commercial whaling and aboriginal subsistence whaling).”
The proposal, title Way Forward, called for the international body to change its decision-making process to make it easier for Japan to end the ban and also called for an end to years of “intolerance” and “confrontation” between nations.
