Positive News in the Environment

The court said that JARPA II activities can “broadly be characterized as scientific research,” but found several “shortcomings” with the program's details—saying in particular that Japan had not paid enough attention to nonlethal methods. “The evidence does not establish that the programme’s design and implementation are reasonable in relation to achieving its stated objectives,” the court said. Therefore, “the special permits granted by Japan for the killing, taking and treating of whales in connection with JARPA II are not 'for purposes of scientific research,' ” the judges added.

A mother Minke whale and her calf are dragged aboard a Japanese vessel

UN Court orders Japan to halt annual arctic whaling expedition

Japan has to stop capturing and killing whales under its whaling program in the Antarctic, called JARPA II, the International Court of Justice has said.

In a judgement issued in the Hague in the Netherlands, the U.N. court has ordered Japan to revoke existing permits to catch whales for scientific purposes and to stop granting such permits in the future. The ruling is a victory for Australia, which filed court proceedings against Japan's whaling in 2010, arguing that it breached international obligations.

In 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling, allowing the taking and killing of whales for research purposes only. Scientific catch limits are set by each country on a yearly basis, submitted to a review by IWC's scientific committee.

Antiwhaling critics say that Japanese whale research is a fig leaf for commercial hunting, as whale meat can be sold to cover research costs. Japan counters that its whale meat sale is not profitable and that it needs to take and kill whales to study the animals and their potential as a food source.

The extra meat from the whales caught by Japanese research vessels are sold for consumption.

By 12 votes to four, the court ruled that Japan had breached several obligations under the Schedule to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.

Masayuki Komatsu, a former Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries official now at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, says that whales are abundant, and therefore the moratorium and whaling restrictions are invalid in the first place. "It would not be appropriate to comply with a judgment based on illegal articles," Komatsu tells ScienceInsider.

The judgment is binding and without appeal, however, and Japan has already issued a statement saying that it will abide by the ruling, even though it is “disappointed.”

warning: The following video is graphic and may be unappealing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

I believe that the banning of Japan's JARPA II expedition is beneficial to the environment by allowing the whale population to be replenished, in turn keeping the food chain in the pacific stable. As whale meat is considered to be a delicacy in Japan, I predict the court ruling will be met with stiff opposition by the consumer population. However, I believe it would be very difficult for Japan to relieve itself from the international moratorium because their reputation of complying with international law would be smeared, and would possibly lead to troubling international relations with countries, such as Australia or New Zealand.