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UN Court: Japan's Whale Killing Must Stop Immediately

The International Court of Justice ruled that Japan's Antarctic whaling program is not rooted in science.
Japanese whaling vessel Nisshun Maru. Image: Shutterstock

For many years, activists have argued that Japan's rationale for hunting protected whales—that it's all in the name of science—is a thinly-veiled excuse to skirt international whaling bans. In a ruling released today, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stated that the Japan's Antarctic whaling program is not sufficiently limited to research.

As such, the court ruled that Japan must immediately revoke any current whaling permits given under current regulations, and forgo issuing new permits. Whale supporters are calling it a huge win.

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“This is an historic decision which lays to rest, once and for all, the grim travesty of Japan’s so-called ‘scientific’ whaling and exposes it to the world as the blatant falsehood it clearly is," said Clare Perry, head of the Environmental Investigation Agency's Cetaceans Campaign.

For its part, the Japanese delegation present at The Hague said it was "disappointed" with the ruling.

Japan's statement following the historic decision of the World Court to end its Antarctic whaling #whaling #ifaw #icj pic.twitter.com/IORORBPfws

— Patrick R. Ramage (@patrickramage) March 31, 2014

The case was brought to the ICJ by Australia, which sought to "establish, once and for all, that Japan's whaling hunt is not for scientific purposes and is against international law," as Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus told the Australian last August. Australia contended that Japan's special whaling permits issued under the International Whaling Convention, which governs international whaling, did not actually qualify as scientific exemptions.

Broadly, Japan's Antarctic whaling is governed by what's called JARPA II, the second iteration of guidelines developed by the country to prove its whaling activities produce scientific contributions. While Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research has loudly trumpeted the value of the research it's conducted, the ICJ ruled that Japan's regulations have little scientific basis. For example, the court noted that Japan has killed some 3,600 minke whales since JARPA II began in 2005, a take that's produced little scientific output.

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Specifically, the court ruled that:

  • JARPA II was lacking studies testing whether research goals could be met without killing whales.
  • JARPA II's research goals have "considerable overlap" with the previous program "in their subjects, their objectives, and their methods," suggesting that Japan's arguments for expanding its whaling program under JARPA II weren't valid.
  • That Japan's whale quotas have little scientific rationale behind them, and a "significant gap" between target sample sizes and the actual number of whales killed. 
  • Finally, that the program has an open-ended time frame, that Japan has produced little scientific output based on the program, and that Japan has not cooperated well with other research interests all suggest that science was not the primary goal of the program.

As such, the court ruled that JARPA II "involves activities that can broadly be characterized as scientific research," but as a whole, the reason Japan kills whales is not “for purposes of scientific research."

This findings shouldn't come as much of a shock, but it's still a big ruling, one that requires Japan to immediately cease all whaling activities in the Antarctic.

So is this the end of Japan's whaling industry? Japan has said it will accept the decision, but it's important to note that the ruling is specific to Japan's argument for issuing whaling permits for the Antarctic. Japan still has legal permits to whale in the North Pacific, and it's possible that the country could try to rework JARPA II to fit more specific scientific goals.

Still, it's a big blow, and in any case, the writing's been on the wall for awhile. A key poll in 2012 found that the vast majority of Japanese citizens do not consume whale meat, and that young people were even less likely to be consumers. Combined with the finding that the industry is largely propped up by government subsidies, it seems evident that the whaling industry isn't economically sustainable.

But traditions die hard, and the key question has been whether Japan's resolve to keep its whaling industry afloat could outlast the wide variety of species impacted by full-scale whaling. With the ICJ's binding ruling, whales have a much better chance of winning out.