Japan to resume commercial whaling

Japan has announced it will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on June 30, 2019. Japanese whalers will be allowed to resume commercial hunting within the nation’s territorial waters and economic exclusive zones from July. The decision follows the IWC rejection in September of a Japanese proposal to allow commercial catch quotas. Japan has long been criticised for claiming that whaling is part of its culture and allowing limited whale hunts for food as so-called scientific research – despite Tokyo being a signatory of a moratorium on whaling.