Japan announces withdrawal from IWC to resume commercial whaling in 2019

Japan will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in order to resume commercial whale hunting in July 2019, the Japanese government said Wednesday.

Under IWC rules, Japan’s withdrawal will become effective on June 30, enabling the country to restart commercial whaling in nearby waters and within its exclusive economic zone starting in July, a move prone to international condemnation.

Japan will not hunt whales commercially in the Antarctic Ocean although the country has implemented so-called “scientific whaling” for research purposes as it claims.

The announcement of withdrawal came after months of threatening to leave the international organization, which has sparked international criticism.

At the annual IWC meeting in September in Brazil, Japan proposed establishing a committee dedicated to “sustainable whaling,” including commercial whaling and aboriginal subsistence whaling.

Anti-whaling nations and conservationists locked horns with whaling pros over the proposal to end the 32-year-old moratorium on commercial whale hunting, and finally voted down the plan.

Established in 1948, the IWC is an international body aimed at protecting whales and upholding the “orderly development of the whaling industry.” Japan joined the IWC in 1951.

The country consumed about 200,000 tons of whale meat each year in the 1960s, compared to around 5,000 tons in recent years, according to government data.

However, Japan kills 333 whales each year for so-called “scientific research,” due to a loophole in the whaling ban, and most meat goes on sale for consumption.