The world is preparing for a showdown at this year’s International Whaling Commission meeting in response to reports that Japan intends to resume commercial whaling.

The Japanese government currently subsidizes a very controversial annual hunt to the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary, under the guise of scientific research. Only Norway and Iceland allow commercial whaling, despite the IWC international moratorium that banned commercial whaling in 1986 to protect the decreasing population sizes of whales. 

In order to resume commercial whaling at September’s meeting in Brazil, Japanese officials will suggest a new catch quota for whale species that are allegedly plentiful (although accurately determining whale populations can be difficult), requiring a simple majority vote of IWC members to approve their proposal.

Japanese officials reason that minke whales are not endangered and that eating whale meat is part of their country’s culture. Last year alone, Japanese whaling vessels killed over 300 minke whales including over 120 pregnant females.

If Japan successfully initiates a new commercial whaling industry, it could pave the way for more countries to do the same, laying waste to everything the moratorium stood for. The last thing the world needs is more products made from the bodies of these peaceful, sentient beings who only want to exist peacefully in the oceans.

Please act now in defense of whales: www.idausa.org/savewhales