As the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting ends in Korea, anti-whaling nations emerge victorious. The commission firmly rejected the Japanese government proposal that would have seen a return to commercial whaling.
This is fantastic news for the world's whales but their future still remains uncertain. Despite the pro-whaling countries failing to win key votes, the Japanese government has announced that it will go ahead and double its hunt in Antarctic waters. In December, they plan to kill almost 1,000 whales through their 'scientific' whaling programme. They also plan to extend this programme to kill endangered fin and humpback whales too.
Japan has also vowed to return to the IWC next year to secure a majority vote. An ominous statement came from a member of the Japanese delegation "next year they [new member states] will participate - the turning point, the reversal of history is soon to come."
If Japan succeeds in forcing a return to full-scale commercial whaling through their aggressive recruiting, it would not reflect a change in world opinion - but a decline in the independent nature of IWC membership. Even though Japan has been sent a clear message telling them to end 'scientific' whaling they continue to ignore the IWC's resolution, along with Iceland and Norway, and keep hunting whales.
pull quote: We believe Japan is staging a hostile takeover- and we must make moves to stop it.
For now, we have succeeded in keeping the ban on whaling in place. Thankyou to all those that took part in our virtual march - over 50,000 protest photographs were projected onto the side of the IWC building telling the delegates that the world wants to see an end to whaling. Our whale embassy, which was based near the site of a proposed whale factory, is now moving to Seoul to continue the campaign.
Check out the images from our virtual march!
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