Conservation groups slam Japan’s 'deeply concerning' proposal to return to whaling

Japan is set to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission so it can restart commercial whaling, according to local media.

Japan is set to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission so it can restart commercial whaling, according to local media. Source: AAP

Anti-whaling groups have expressed concern after reports Japan is considering withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial whaling.

It comes just three months after anti-whaling nations, including Australia, voted down a Japanese push to end the ban.

Japanese officials have not officially confirmed the reports, but have declared "all options are on the table".

View image on Twitter

paDeD6il_normal.jpg

Japan hunts whales for what it calls "research purposes" but critics say that's a sham.

AAP

 

Citing unnamed government sources, local news agency Kyodo said a formal decision to withdraw from the IWC would come by the end of the year.

The possible move has attracted international criticism.  

 

READ MORE

Australia resists Japan's 'scientific' whaling push

 

Nicola Beynon, from environmental group Humane Society International, said such a move would be troubling.

"The International Whaling Commission is the body that is recognised under international law as being responsible for the conservation and management of whales," she told SBS News.

"So we're very concerned about Japan abandoning multilateralism and rules-based order, and we're concerned about the precedent it might set and if it encourages other countries to do the same."