Australia Wants Japanese Whaling to Stop

Australia has approached the International Court of Justice to ask for the immediate halt on Japan’s “scientific” whaling activities.

Australia argued that there are legal flaws in the whaling program an asked Japan for a joint non-lethal whale research. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said JARPA II should be stopped.

JARPA II is the research whaling program being conducted in Antarctica. The program aims to monitor the continent’s ecosystem, model competition of whale species, and record and manage changes of Antarctic whales.

Oxford University’s Professor Crawford said the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is not a bilateral treaty between Japan and other countries. He added that 25 years after JARPA was implemented, there is no concrete evidence whether the number of minkes is stable.

Professor Crawford said the Japanese are just hunting and gathering randomly. Japan has always been known for consuming whale meat.

Attorney-General Dreyfus said the Australian government is requesting the court to put a stop to JARPA II, arguing that large-scale killing is commercial and is not covered in the agreement.

Japan is expected to make its oral argument next week.