In science terms, Japan has no need at all to kill whales [View all]

[kristopher]

From the Japan Times:

In science terms, Japan has no need at all to kill whales
BY ROWAN HOOPER

<snip>

...But in the Southern Ocean the stakes for thousands of Minke whales, in particular, are higher. If Japan wins the case — and some commentators suggest it is in a strong position — the legal status of its whaling program could be strengthened.

Masayuki Komatsu, Japan’s chief whaling negotiator from 1999 to 2004, told The Australian newspaper that the international court could rule that Japan’s “scientific” whaling program — which many countries as well as Australia believe is a masquerade for a commercial whaling operation — is legitimate.

The worst-case scenario, for opponents of whaling, is that the court overturns the IWC’s 1985/86 moratorium on commercial whaling, known as Article 10E in the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. That outcome would be disastrous for whales worldwide — and it is precisely why the legal challenge to Japan, which at first glance many people opposed to whaling would probably support, is highly risky.

<snip>

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/10/national/in-science-terms-japan-has-no-need-at-all-to-kill-whales/#at_pco=tcb-1.0&at_tot=8&at_ab=-&at_pos=0