PORTOROZ, Slovenia — Japan sought international backing Wednesday for its highly criticized plan to resume whale hunting in the Antarctic next year, despite a ruling against it by the top United Nations court.
Japan negotiated at the International Whaling Commission conference in Portoroz, Slovenia, to amend a resolution about global whaling criteria so that it would allow Japan to engage in “scientific whaling.”
That plan, which would lead to the killing of hundreds of whales, triggered a clash between pro- and anti-whaling countries at the meeting.
Whaling for research purposes is exempt from the 1986 international ban on commercial whaling, and Japan wants to conduct additional hunts on that basis.
But in March the U.N. International Court of Justice ruled that Japan’s program isn’t scientific and produces little research.
Joji Morishita, head of Japan’s delegation told the conference: “The court judgment only says that Japan should revoke existing authorization or a permit for its [previous hunting activities,] not the other special permit activities.”