Conservationists foil Japan’s bid to resume whaling

A COALITION of conservation-minded nations has managed to thwart Japan’s attempt to form a pro-whaling majority on the International Whaling Commission and reverse the moratorium on commercial hunting that went into effect two decades ago.

Japan and other pro-whaling countries lost their third vote in a row over the weekend at the 70-member commission’s annual meeting on St Kitts, preventing their predicted takeover of the organisation that manages whaling. A proposal to allow fishermen in Taiji, a coastal community in south east Japan, to hunt minke whales was defeated 31-30. It would have needed a 75% majority to be passed, but the failure to win even a simple majority was a stinging defeat for Tokyo.

Four countries that were expected to side with Japan — China, South Korea, the Solomon Islands, and Kiribati — unexpectedly abstained.