"Japan Defies Whaling Commission, Vows to Resume Antarctic Hunt"

"PORTOROZ, Slovenia – The International Whaling Commission voted Thursday against Japan’s plans to resume “scientific” whaling in the Antarctic next year, but Japan said it would go ahead regardless.

The IWC resolution, passed by a 35-20 vote, said Japan should abide by an International Court of Justice ruling that said that its whaling program is illegal because it is not for research purposes.

The court ruling in March, in a case brought by Australia, said some “scientific” whaling is allowed under strict conditions, by which Japan said it would abide.

The world’s great whales were hunted to near extinction by the early 20th century. An International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling went into effect in 1986, but since then roughly 30,400 whales have been killed by Japan and the other defiant countries, Norway and Iceland."

Environment News Service had the story September 18, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

"Japan Vows To Keep on Whaling, Calls Resolution Against Its Hunt 'Regrettable'" (Reuters)