Japan wants to restructure IWC to make it easier for it to start commercial whaling again
By North Asia Correspondent Jake Sturmer in Tokyo
ABC News
July 12 2019
Japan is hoping to make it easier to resume commercial whaling, submitting a proposal to fundamentally restructure the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
The Japan Fisheries Agency told the ABC it was hoping to get the IWC's moratorium on commercial whaling lifted at the Commission's biennial meeting in September.
"We think the IWC should revise the zero-catch of whales," the agency's Yuki Morimoto said.
"Japan is proposing that it should allow catching some species which are abundant and approved by the scientific committee."
As of June, 40 of the 88 IWC members supported whaling while 48 opposed it, according to Japan's Fisheries Agency.
Staff members of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry prepare for whale meat tasting during a promotion at a restaurant.
But the IWC has been mired in deadlock, so Japan wants to shift the decision-making process from requiring a three-quarter majority, to just a simple majority of 50 per cent plus one.
"We're saying let's change the IWC's decision making rules. The reason is at the moment pro-whaling countries and anti-whaling countries are in confrontation and the deadlock is continuing," Mr Morimoto said.
"At the last IWC meeting in 2016, Japan raised the issue: can we go on like this?
"Until now, Japan only proposed resuming commercial whaling and it was a proposal from one side. This time we are also taking consideration of the anti-whaling countries so they can do what they want to do."
Mr Morimoto said Japan wanted to coexist with anti-whaling countries, and Japan in theory could approve things in their interest, such as expanding whale sanctuaries.
Japan has long maintained that many whale species were not endangered and that whaling was an important part of its food heritage.
Towns have centuries-old whaling traditions, and attempts to stop this are seen as a threat to Japanese culture.
Fisheries ministers have previously compared eating whale meat to eating kangaroo in Australia.
A year ago, Japan passed a law enshrining the practice of whaling. It is now considering upgrading its fleet of vessels in a step toward returning to the controversial commercial practice.
Anti-whaling protesters gather outside the Japanese consulate in Melbourne
Photo: Japan wants to end the International Whaling Commission's ban on whaling, despite heavy opposition from anti-whaling groups.
A ban on commercial whaling by the IWC came into force in 1986, with Japan commencing its program of scientific whaling a year later.Japan wants to restructure IWC to make it easier for it to start commercial whaling again