TOKYO: Japan’s chief whaling negotiator said Monday the country intends to resume hunts in the Antarctic this year, despite a call by global regulators for more evidence that the expeditions have a scientific purpose.
Joji Morishita said the whole debate about whether or not Japan should be killing the mammals had long since moved away from science and into politics.
The scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission said in a report Friday that Japan had failed to give enough details to explain why it wanted to kill almost 4,000 minke whales in the Antarctic over the next 12 years.
Despite international disapproval, Japan has hunted whales in the Southern Ocean under an exemption in the global whaling moratorium that allows for lethal research.
