Editing Whaling (section)

=== Japan ===
{{Main|Whaling in Japan}}
{{wide image|Traditional Whaling in Taiji.jpg|1000px|Japanese narrative screen showing a whale hunt off [[Wakayama Prefecture|Wakayama]]}}
When the commercial whaling moratorium was introduced by the IWC in 1982, [[Japan]] lodged an official objection. However, in response to US threats to cut Japan's fishing quota in US territorial waters under the terms of the [[Bob Packwood|Packwood]]-Magnuson Amendment, Japan withdrew its objection in 1987. According to the [[BBC]], the US went back on this promise, effectively destroying the deal.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6659401.stm |publisher= BBC |title= Did Greens help kill the whale?}}</ref> Since Japan could not resume commercial whaling, it began whaling on a purported scientific-research basis. [[Australia]], [[Greenpeace]], the [[Australian Marine Conservation Society]], [[Sea Shepherd Conservation Society]] and other groups dispute the Japanese claim of research "as a disguise for commercial whaling, which is banned."<ref name="timesonline.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3325580.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603053329/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3325580.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 3, 2010 |title=Australia condemns bloody killing of whale and calf by Japanese fleet|newspaper=The Sunday Times| date = 8 February 2008 | location=London | first=Paul | last=Larter}}</ref><ref name="bloomberg.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aPhG1CfyPue0|title=Kyokuyo Joins Maruha to End Whale Meat Sales in Japan|publisher=Bloomberg|date=30 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009122448/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101|archive-date=9 October 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marineconservation.org.au/australian-government-must-take-action-as-japan-kills-whales-again/|title=Australian Government must take action as Japan kills whales again|date=2017-12-15|website=Australian Marine Conservation Society|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref> The [[Sea Shepherd Conservation Society]] has attempted to disrupt Japanese whaling in the Antarctic since 2003 but eventually ceased this activity in 2017 due to little achievement in creating change.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-41078698|title=Sea Shepherd to stop chasing Japan whalers|date=2017-08-29|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-02-12|language=en-GB}}</ref> Other NGOs such as the Australian Marine Conservation Society and [[Humane Society International]] continued to campaign against Japan's scientific whaling program and block votes at IWC to bring back commercial whaling.

The stated purpose of the research program is to establish the size and dynamics of whale populations.<ref name="Q&A">{{Cite web|url=https://www.icrwhale.org/QandA3.html|title=ICR : Japan's whale research programs (JARPN and JARPNII)|website=www.icrwhale.org|access-date=2019-07-06}}</ref> The Japanese government wishes to resume whaling in a sustainable manner under the oversight of the IWC, both for whale products (meat, etc.) and to help preserve fishing resources by culling whales. Anti-whaling organizations claim that the research program is a front for commercial whaling, that the sample size is needlessly large and that equivalent information can be obtained by non-lethal means, for example by studying samples of whale tissue (such as skin) or feces.<ref>[http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/Whaling-whale-meat-vindication-231210/ Whaling on trial: Vindication!]. Greenpeace.org (2010-12-23). Retrieved on 2011-10-11.</ref> The Japanese government sponsored [[Institute of Cetacean Research]] (ICR), which conducts the research, disagrees, stating that the information obtainable from tissue and/or feces samples is insufficient and that the sample size is necessary in order to be representative.<ref name="Q&A" />
[[File:Japan Factory Ship Nisshin Maru Whaling Mother and Calf.jpg|thumb|An adult and sub-adult [[minke whale]] are dragged aboard the ''[[Nisshin Maru]]'', a Japanese whaling vessel.]]
Japan's scientific whaling program is controversial in [[anti-whaling]] countries.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Urbina|first=Ian|date=November 18, 2016|title=Antarctica: The Hunt for Hunters|url=https://www.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/antarctica-hunt-for-hunters/|access-date=February 28, 2021|archive-date=February 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228094606/https://www.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/antarctica-hunt-for-hunters/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Countries opposed to whaling have passed non-binding resolutions in the IWC urging Japan to stop the program. Japan claims that whale stocks for some species are sufficiently large to sustain commercial hunting and blame filibustering by the anti-whaling side for the continuation of scientific whaling. Deputy whaling commissioner, Joji Morishita, told [[BBC News]]:<blockquote>The reason for the moratorium [on commercial whaling] was scientific uncertainty about the number of whales. ... It was a moratorium for the sake of collecting data and that is why we started scientific whaling. We were asked to collect more data.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7153594.stm | work=BBC News | title=Whaling: The Japanese position | date=2008-01-15}}</ref></blockquote>This collusive relationship between the whaling industry and the Japanese government is sometimes criticized by pro-whaling activists who support local, small-scale coastal whaling such as the [[Taiji dolphin drive hunt]].<ref name="The Dolphin Drive Hunt">{{cite book|title=The Dolphin Drive Hunt – A Scientist's Memoir of His Time in Taiji|last=Sekiguchi|first=Yuske|date=October 7, 2012|publisher=Suzuki&Smith Publishing|location=Tokyo}}</ref>

In September 2018, Japan chaired the 67th IWC meeting in Brazil and attempted to pass a motion to lift the moratorium on commercial whaling. Japan did not receive enough votes and the IWC rejected the motion.<ref name="marineconservation.org.au">{{Cite web|url=https://www.marineconservation.org.au/media-release-japan-pulls-out-of-iwc-and-turns-their-back-on-global-whale-conservation/|title=Media Release: Japan pulls out of IWC, turns back on whale conservation|date=2018-12-26|website=Australian Marine Conservation Society|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref> Subsequently, on 26 December 2018, Japan announced that it would withdraw its membership from the IWC, because in its opinion, the IWC had failed its duty to promote [[sustainable hunting]] as the culture within the IWC moved towards an anti-whaling, pro-conservation agenda. Japanese officials also announced they will resume commercial hunting within its territorial waters and its 200-mile [[exclusive economic zone]]s starting in July 2019, but it will cease whaling activities in the Antarctic Ocean, the northwest Pacific Ocean, and the [[Australian Whale Sanctuary]].<ref name='CNN Dec 2018'>[https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/25/asia/japan-withdrawal-international-whaling-commission-intl/index.html "IWC withdrawal: Japan to resume commercial whaling in 2019"]. Euan McKirdy, Emiko Jozuka, Junko Ogura. ''CNN News''. 26 December 2018.</ref><ref name='NYT Dec 2018'>[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/world/asia/japan-whaling-withdrawal.html "Japan to Resume Commercial Whaling, Defying International Ban"]. ''The New York Times''. 26 December 2018.</ref><ref name="marineconservation.org.au" />

In 2019, the Australian Marine Conservation Society and [[International Fund for Animal Welfare]] commissioned legal opinion, which concluded that Japan's commercial whaling program within its territorial waters breaks international convention and law and that Japan makes itself vulnerable to potential international legal action.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marineconservation.org.au/japans-commercial-whale-hunting-risks-international-legal-action-says-new-legal-opinion/|title=Japan's commercial whale hunting risks international legal action, says new legal opinion|date=2019-06-26|website=Australian Marine Conservation Society|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref>