Barbaric whaling has resumed in Japan, as Japan defies thirty year ban.
Japan, like other countries, 'stopped' commercial whaling just over 30 years ago now. Whaling was banned internationally by the International Whaling Commission which put in place a moratorium on whaling in the 1980s. In 1982, the International Whaling Commission, first introduced the moratorium on whaling - it stated that there should be a ‘’pause’’ on commercial whaling - in other words; a temporary halt on commercial whaling.
That ‘’pause’’ was put in place in 1985/86, and still exists to this day. Effectively, there is still a ‘’pause’’ in commercial whaling, rather than an outright ban. However, the world has moved on a lot since the 1980's in terms of animal rights, and in our treatment of wildlife - the world moving on has resulted in a stronger resistance to things like commercial whaling.
For example, in Iceland - which is one of the few countries which does participate in commercial whaling - is a country where only 34% of people support commercial whaling. While a poll in 2000 found that only 11% of Japan did not support commercial whaling. Therefore, Iceland has a sizable percentage of the population which is opposed to commercial whaling, whereas Japan largely doesn't have opposition to whaling.
In Iceland there are people who are actively campaigning against whaling. One such group is called Elding. Elding is a group which is anti-whaling, and is a group which offers tours in Iceland which are wildlife friendly. Instead of commercial whaling, Elding offers tours which give people the opportunity to view whales in their natural habitat off the coast of Iceland. They show that, instead of humanity profiting from the destruction of nature and wild animals, we can preserve the natural world and wild animals, while also being beneficial to the economy through economic tourism. It shows that we can preserve the planet and the economy at the same time.
Similarly, in Japan, there is opposition towards whaling within the country. Japanese activists have been fighting to save whales and dolphins against commercial hunting: like whaling. However, Japan does still sell whale meat in shops - like you would find any other type of ‘meat’. Even though whale meat is found in shops in Japan, it is thought that there is low demand for whale meat in Japan.
The Japanese government insists that its whaling has been done for ‘scientific reasons’ - something which is doubtful, as whale meat is often found in shops and restaurants, and lately, this year, it was found that a Japanese school was teaching that whale meat is something that should be ‘appreciated’.
If anything, the picture from Japan is a contradictory one, some sources say that whaling is popular with the public, while other sources say that it is unpopular with the public. And some sources say that whale meat isn’t a popular dish eaten in Japan, while at the same time, whale meat is easily accessible in Japan in places like restaurants and shops.
Commercial whaling in Japan could result in an increase in whale meat in Japan: but that is not the only danger for whales. A return to commercial whaling in Japan will also see an increase in cruelty towards whales from Japan, and it will also result the persecution of endangered whales. According to the WWF, 7 out of the 13 whale species in the world are already endangered. Therefore, a resurgence in commercial whaling could lead to some, if not most, whale species becoming extinct if commercial whaling became intense and prolonged - most whale species are already endangered.
Just hours after resuming commercial whaling, Japan caught its first whales and killed them. The country plans on catching and killing hundreds of whales by the time the year is out.
Alongside resuming commercial whaling, Japan has also withdrawn from the International Whaling Commission, a commission which is aimed at protecting whales from commercial whaling.
This isn’t the first time in the last 30 years that Japan has hunted whales - they have hunted whales under the guise of ‘’scientific research’’.
The International Whaling Commission has and does allow Japan to hunt whales for ‘’scientific research’’. However, many believe that Japan saying its hunting of whales has been a front for commercial whaling - this theory has evidence to support it; as the meat from these dead whales has ended up being sold as meat for people to eat in Japan. Therefore, perhaps it is a bit misleading to say that ‘Japan has resumed commercial whaling’, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that: ‘Japan is now open about the commercial whaling that they have been doing for the last three decades.’
But now, with Japan being open about it’s commercial whaling, rather than hiding it behind the guise of ‘’scientific research’’, it puts more whales at risk from being killed and could result in whale population declines.
And in the 21st century, where we know that animals like whales experience the same emotions that humans do - such as grief, there isn’t any excuse, or reason to kill these magnificent animals. Instead, we should be protecting them and cherishing them - especially in a world that is losing species at a dramatic and alarming rate; we need to protect these animals because we are going through a sixth mass extinction, not protecting them and valuing them, will only speed up the process of causing more endangered wild animals, and more extinctions.
Sources:
https://iwc.int/whaling
https://uk.whales.org/2018/06/06/new-survey-shows-another-fall-in-local-support-for-whale-hunting-in-iceland/
https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/majority-japanese-public-does-not-support-whaling-or-consume-whale-meat
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2015/03/16/voices/japanese-activists-fight-tide-save-whales-dolphins/#.XRnyZOhKjIU
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/whale
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-48822131/japan-catches-first-whales-after-ban-lifted
https://www.livescience.com/65842-japanese-lift-commercial-whaling-ban.html
https://earther.gizmodo.com/defying-international-community-japan-resumes-commerci-1836023427
https://www.seashepherd.org.uk/news-and-commentary/news/archive/japanese-research-is-a-front-for-pirate-whaling.html