[LINK] "Japan to Resume Whaling Next Year, Defying International Whaling Commission"

[rfmcdonald]

Oh, Japan. From National Geographic News:

Japan announced Thursday that it will restart its scientific whaling program next year in response to a new resolution adopted by the International Whaling Commission placing stricter regulations on scientific whaling.

This new nonbinding resolution—proposed by New Zealand—adopts the criteria used by the UN's International Court of Justice earlier this year when it ruled that Japan's current whaling program was not scientific.

The new guidelines establish criteria for the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) scientific committee to consider when it reviews whaling plans submitted by member countries. The criteria include consideration of whether a program needs to lethally sample whales to obtain data, how many whales a scientific program will take, and whether the number to be taken is justified.

At this week's IWC meeting, Japan's representatives stated the country's intention to revamp its scientific program based on "international law and scientific evidence." They planned to submit their proposed program to the IWC's scientific committee this fall, with the aim of conducting scientific whaling next year.

If Japan were to abide by the new regulations, the country would have to submit a plan to the scientific committee next year, delaying the start of its whaling activities until 2016, says Leigh Henry, a senior policy adviser for wildlife conservation with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Washington, D.C.