Tokyo says it could try to rescue its Antarctic whaling programme by sharply reducing catch quotas
theguardian.com, Tuesday 1 April 2014 12.35 BST
Japan could try to rescue its Antarctic whaling programme by sharply reducing catch quotas after the highest UN court ordered a halt, rejecting Tokyo's argument that the catch was for scientific purposes and not mainly for human consumption.
The judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was a blow to Japan's decades-old "scientific whaling" programme, although Tokyo, which said it would abide by the ruling, might be able to resume Antarctic whaling if it devises a new, more persuasive programme that requires killing whales.
"We want to accept this from a position that respects the international legal order," foreign minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. "We want to properly consider our country's response after carefully examining the contents of the ruling."
The ICJ agreed with plaintiff Australia's position that the scientific research resulting from the Antarctic whaling did not justify the number of whales killed.
Japan has long maintained that most whale species are in no danger of extinction and scientific whaling is necessary to manage what it sees as a marine resource that, after world war two, was an important protein source for an impoverished nation.
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