Then why are Japanese consortiums allowed to continue their hunt? Japan is able to get around the ban by using the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), the basis of the IWC, which states “any contracting government may grant to any of its nationals a special permit authorising that national to kill, take, and treat whales for purposes of scientific research…whales taken under these special permits shall so far as practicable
be processed.”

Japan issues such permits to its whaling industry, which allows – in fact demands – that any whales killed for “research” are also processed and sold for food. The I982 IWC moratorium on all commercial whaling was not a complete halt to whaling, but instead a pause. And Japan hopes the data it gathers through what it calls its scientific programme will eventually convince the IWC, on scientific grounds, that commercial whaling can and should be licensed again. Since the moratorium, more than 29,000 whales have been killed under the
special permit system. 

Ironically, the past 15 years have seen discussions dominated on how to develop a scheme that allows commercial whaling to resume by properly protecting stocks. The commission remains heavily divided on the issue. The IWC, after all, was originally set up to manage whale stocks, not as a conservation commission, and this is one of the heaviest criticisms levelled at it by pro-whaling nations. In recent years, though, many new countries have joined the IWC hoping to address the balance and lead the organisation toward whale conservation and protection instead of hunting.

Critics of Japan’s controversial scientific whaling programme say that all data collected by Japan on whale biology can be collected by non-lethal methods. The whalers are steadfast in claiming the data will one day prove a case for resumption of commercial whaling based on sustainable principles.

Phillipa Brakes, who heads Australia’s anti-whaling campaign for The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, says there is little support for eating whale meat within Japan and even less demand internationally. “Despite Japan’s attempts to buoy the industry by promoting whale meat in schools and hospitals, whaling is a dying industry,” she said.

This year Japan’s controversial humpback hunt was heavily condemned around the world – so great was the wave of public opinion, and through pressure from the IWC, that Japan discontinued its plans for the humpback kill. For this year, at least, the humpbacks in the Southern Ocean are safe. The minkes and endangered fin whales, however, might not be so lucky.