For the first time in three decades, commercial whaling has resumed in Japan. There has been international condemnation after it emerged that a number of whaling vessels had been given a permit to catch 227 minke, Bryde’s and sei whales this year in Japanese waters.
Japan’s last commercial whale hunt was in 1986, but it has continued whaling for what it says are research purposes. Japan has now withdrawn from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) so is no longer subject to its rules.
Japanese officials have said that the resumption of whaling would ensure “the culture and way of life will be passed on to the next generation.”
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