Japan was recently condemned for its decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and resume commercial whaling, however, the IWC is still awaiting official notification from the country. The IWC says it currently does not know how long this will take, as formal notification has to be given from the US due to the fact that they are the depository government for the Convention. Once the IWC receives this, they will issue a statement to media. The IWC, based in Cambridge, UK, introduced a moratorium on whaling in 1986 however despite this, Japan has continued to hunt large whales, citing scientific purposes.
Other than Japan, Iceland and Norway are the only two nations to have continued whaling in contravention of the IWC’s moratorium. Japan’s decision means that, from July 2019, Japanese whalers will hunt in the waters around its islands and in the country’s exclusive economic zone which includes far-reaching maritime boundaries. In 2018 Norway announced a 28 per cent increase of its annual whaling quota to 1,278 whales.
The IWC has 88 nation members – Japan will now participate in the IWC as an observer only.
