Japan has slaughtered
thirty minke whales in its first annual hunt of the season, this despite an
International Court Justice (ICJ) ruling earlier this year that ordered a
halt of its expedition in the Antarctic.
Last March, the court
rejected Japan’s contention that their JARPA II whaling programme in the
Antarctic was scientific, not commercial. The decision
was ruled on a suit brought by Australia and the New Zealand governments,
which described the hunt as “ruse” to dodge
prohibition against commercial killing. Although an international moratorium on
commercial whaling has been in place since 1987, Japan still continued to hunt
the whales under the pretense of scientific research. The court ruling found
that the whale hunt in the Antarctic was not strictly for scientific purposes,
and that is was a cover for commercial profit.
The ICJ ordered
Japan to withdraw all whale hunting permits and licenses in the Antarctic, but
the annual hunts along the northern coast, and in the northern Pacific, where
approximately three hundred minke whales are slaughtered each year, were not
discussed, nor included in the ruling.
The Japanese
Fisheries Agency said that the thirty minke whales that have been killed during
this year’s whaling season are part of its “research hunts’ in the northwest
Pacific Ocean.
"As
a country (New Zealand) that places a high value on its good
international citizenship, we hope and expect that Japan will continue
to respect the ICJ decision.” So said Murray McCully New Zealand's
Minister of Foreign Affairs. Like him I am not only "disappointed" with
the approach taken by Japan, but disgusted by their total disregard of
the ICJ ruling. Come back Sea Shepherd. We need you to sort them out-
again!
