TOKYO — Japan announced Wednesday that it is leaving the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial hunts for the animals for the first time in 30 years, but said it would no longer go to the Antarctic for its much-criticized annual killings.

Japan switched to what it calls research whaling after the IWC imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in the 1980s, and now says stocks have recovered enough to resume commercial hunts.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Japan would resume commercial whaling in July "in line with Japan's basic policy of promoting sustainable use of aquatic living resources based on scientific evidence."

He added that Japan is disappointed that the IWC — which he said is dominated by conservationists — focuses on the protection of whale stocks even though the commission has a treaty mandate for both whale conservation and the development of the whaling industry.

"Regrettably, we have reached a decision that it is impossible in the IWC to seek the coexistence of states with different views," he said.

Suga said the commercial hunts would be limited to Japan's territorial waters and its 200-mile (323-kilometer) exclusive economic zone along Japan's coasts. He said Japan would stop its annual whaling expeditions to the Antarctic and northwest Pacific oceans, noting that non-signatory states are not allowed to do so.

The IWC imposed the moratorium on commercial whaling three decades ago due to a dwindling whale population. Japan switched to what is calls research whaling, but the program was criticized as a cover for commercial hunting since the meat is sold on the market at home.

The environmental group Greenpeace condemned the Wednesday's announcement and disputed Japan's view that whale stocks have recovered, noting also that ocean life is being threatened by pollution as well as overfishing.

"The declaration today is out of step with the international community, let alone the protection needed to safeguard the future of our oceans and these majestic creatures," Sam Annesley, executive director at Greenpeace Japan, said in a statement. "The government of Japan must urgently act to conserve marine ecosystems, rather than resume commercial whaling."

Australia's government, often a vocal critic of Japan's whaling policies, said in a statement that it was "extremely disappointed" with Japan's decision to quit the commission.

However, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters joined Australia in welcoming Japan's withdrawal from the southern ocean. Japan was the only country with an ambition to return to commercial whaling in the Antarctic Ocean.

Japanese Fisheries Agency official and longtime IWC negotiator Hideki Moronuki said Japan would use the IWC's method to carefully determine a catch quota, but declined to give an estimate.

Japan has hunted whales for centuries, but has reduced its catch following international protests and declining demand for whale meat at home. The withdrawal from the IWC may be a face-saving step to stop Japan's ambitious Antarctic hunts and scale down the scope of whaling to around the Japanese coasts.

Japan slashed its annual quota in the Antarctic by about one third after a 2014 International Court of Justice ruling that the country's research whaling program wasn't as scientific as Japan had argued. Japan currently hunts about 600 whales annually in the Antarctic and the Northern Pacific.

Fisheries officials have said Japan annually consumes thousands of tons of whale meat from the research hunts, mainly by older Japanese seeking a nostalgic meal. But critics say they doubt commercial whaling could be a sustainable industry if younger Japanese don't view the animals as food.

Suga said Japan would notify the IWC of its decision by Dec. 31 and remains committed to international cooperation on proper management of marine life even after its IWC withdrawal.</s>TOKYO (AFP) - Japan is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and will resume commercial whaling next year, a government spokesman said on Wednesday (Dec 26), in a move expected to spark international criticism.

“We have decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission in order to resume commercial whaling in July next year,” top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

“Commercial whaling to be resumed from July next year will be limited to Japan’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. We will not hunt in the Antarctic waters or in the southern hemisphere,” Mr Suga added.

The announcement had been widely expected and comes after Japan failed in a bid earlier this year to convince the IWC to allow it to resume commercial whaling.

Tokyo has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the body, and has been regularly criticised for catching hundreds of whales a year for “scientific research” despite being a signatory to a moratorium on hunting the animals.

Mr Suga said Japan would officially inform the IWC of its decision by the end of the year, which will mean the withdrawal comes into effect by June 30.

Leaving the IWC means Japanese whalers will be able to resume hunting in Japanese coastal waters of minke and other whales currently protected by the commission. But Japan will not be able to continue the so-called scientific research hunts in the Antarctic that has been exceptionally allowed as an IWC member under the Antarctic Treaty.

The withdrawal means Japan joins Iceland and Norway in openly defying the IWC’s ban on commercial whale hunting. It is certain to infuriate conservationists and anti-whaling countries such as Australia and New Zealand, and deepen the divide between anti- and pro-whaling countries.

Japan has hunted whales for centuries, and their meat was a key source of protein in the immediate post-World War II years when the country was desperately poor.

But consumption has declined significantly in recent decades, with much of the population saying they rarely or never eat whale meat.</s>The federal government has slammed Japan's decision to leave the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial whaling</s>TOKYO, Japan– Japan has announced its withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) next year, and will resume commercial hunting in its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone from July.

It will also cease whaling activities in the Antarctic Ocean, according to an official statement released Wednesday, and hunt species with so-called “healthy” population numbers.

“In its long history, Japan has used whales not only as a source of protein but also for a variety of other purposes,” the statement said. “Engagement in whaling has been supporting local communities, and thereby developed the life and culture of using whales.”

The move to resume commercial whaling drew criticism from conservation groups and governments.

“The declaration today is out of step with the international community, let alone the protection needed to safeguard the future of our oceans and these majestic creatures,” said Sam Annesley, executive director at Greenpeace Japan. “The government of Japan must urgently act to conserve marine ecosystems, rather than resume commercial whaling.”

Australia called Japan’s decision to withdraw from the IWC “regrettable” and urged Japan to return to the convention as a “matter of priority,” in a statement released Wednesday.

Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 International Whaling Commission moratorium. But Japan has used a loophole to continue hunting whales legally since 1987 for what it claims is scientific research.

Iceland and Norway object to the moratorium and continue to hunt whales commercially without relying on science as an excuse.

In September 2018, the majority of member nations at the IWC annual symposium in Brazil approved a non-binding resolution stating that commercial whaling was no longer a valid economic activity, or needed for scientific research.

While the Japanese political class has sought the resumption of commercial whaling activities, campaigners say eating whale is becoming “less and less popular.”

“Actually many (regular) people don’t have any interest in whales or whaling now in Japan,” Nanami Kurasawa of the Iruka and Kujira (dolphin and whale) Action Network (IKAN) told CNN.</s>TOKYO: Japan is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and will resume commercial whaling next year, a government spokesman said Wednesday (Dec 26), in a move expected to spark international criticism.

The announcement had been widely expected and comes after Japan failed in a bid earlier this year to convince the IWC to allow it to resume commercial whaling.

"We have decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission in order to resume commercial whaling in July next year," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

"Commercial whaling to be resumed from July next year will be limited to Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. We will not hunt in the Antarctic waters or in the southern hemisphere," Suga added.

Tokyo has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the body, and has been regularly criticised for catching hundreds of whales a year for "scientific research" despite being a signatory to a moratorium on hunting the animals.

Suga said Japan would officially inform the IWC of its decision by the end of the year, which will mean the withdrawal comes into effect by Jun 30.

Leaving the IWC means Japanese whalers will be able to resume hunting in Japanese coastal waters of minke and other whales currently protected by the IWC.

But Japan will not be able to continue the so-called scientific research hunts in the Antarctic that it has been exceptionally allowed as an IWC member under the Antarctic Treaty.

The withdrawal means Japan joins Iceland and Norway in openly defying the IWC's ban on commercial whale hunting.

Japan has hunted whales for centuries, and their meat was a key source of protein in the immediate post-World War II years when the country was desperately poor.

But consumption has declined significantly in recent decades, with much of the population saying they rarely or never eat whale meat.

Whale hunting has become a rare thorny subject in Japan's otherwise largely amiable foreign policy, with international opposition only serving to make conservatives dig in deeper in support of the tradition.

In September, Tokyo sought to convince the IWC to allow it to resume commercial whaling, arguing that stocks of certain species were now sufficient to support renewed hunting.

But the bid failed, with strong opposition from anti-whaling nations - led by Australia, the European Union and the United States.

Japan's vice-minister for fisheries Masaaki Taniai said after that vote that Tokyo would be "pressed to undertake a fundamental reassessment of its position as a member of the IWC".

Ahead of the announcement, activist groups warned Japan against the withdrawal.

"This is a grave mistake which is out of step with the rest of the world," said Sam Annesley, executive director at Greenpeace Japan.

Paul Watson, the founder of the anti-whaling activist group Sea Shepherd, also said in a statement that Japan would be declaring itself "a pirate whaling nation" by withdrawing from the IWC.

The IWC, established in 1946 to conserve and manage the world's whale and cetacean population, introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986.

Tokyo has long exploited a loophole allowing whales to be killed for "scientific research" and says it is trying to prove the population is large enough to sustain a return to commercial hunting.

It makes no secret of the fact that meat from the expeditions ends up on dinner tables, and argues that stocks of certain whales are now sufficient to allow commercial hunts to resume.

"There have been no concessions from countries who only place importance on the protection of whales," Suga said.

"At the IWC general meeting in September this year, it became evident once again that those supporting the sustainable use of whale stocks and those supporting protection cannot co-exist, leading us to this conclusion."</s>Japan has decided to leave the International Whaling Commission and resume commercial whaling.</s>Japan says it will resume commercial whaling in July 2019 despite a ban on whaling that had been in place since 1986.

The move by Japan is likely to draw international criticism, even as the country is set to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the body tasked with whale conservation.

Commercial whaling was banned by the IWC in 1986 after some species were driven almost to extinction.

Officials in Japan, an IWC member since 1951, say eating whales is part of the country’s culture.

For many years Japan has hunted whales for what it calls “scientific research” and to sell the meat, a programme widely criticised by conservationists.

Wednesday’s announcement had been expected, but conservation groups warn the move will have serious consequences.

It means Japan will be able to freely hunt species currently protected by the IWC, like minke whales.

What did Japan just announce?

 Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said commercial whaling would be restricted to Japanese territorial waters and economic zones.

As a result, Japan will stop hunting in Antarctic waters and the southern hemisphere, a prospect conservation groups had welcomed before it was formally confirmed.</s>Japan says it has decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission and resume commercial hunts

TOKYO (AP) — Japan says it has decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission and resume commercial hunts.</s>TOKYO — Japan says it is leaving the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial hunts but says it will no longer go to the Antarctic to hunt.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday that Japan’s commercial whaling will be limited to its territorial and economic waters.

The IWC imposed a commercial moratorium in the 1980s due to a dwindling whale population. Japan switched to what it calls research whaling and says stocks have recovered enough to resume commercial hunt. The research program was criticized as a cover for commercial hunting as the meat is sold on the market at home.

Japan has said the IWC has become more like an opponent of whaling than an organization aiming for sustainability.

Japan has cut back on its catch as Japanese consume less whale meat.</s>TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and resume commercial whaling from July, it said on Wednesday, abandoning a decades-old campaign to persuade the commission to allow it to hunt whales commercially.

The announcement drew criticism from anti-whaling groups and others, with Australia saying it was “extremely disappointed” and New Zealand regretting the resumption of the “outdated and unnecessary” commercial killing of the ocean mammals.

Japan’s commercial whaling will be limited to its own territorial waters and its exclusive economic zone, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who made the announcement at a news conference after a cabinet decision on Tuesday.

“From July 2019, after the withdrawal comes into effect on June 30, Japan will conduct commercial whaling within Japan’s territorial sea and its exclusive economic zone, and will cease the take of whales in the Antarctic Ocean/the Southern Hemisphere,” Suga said in a statement.

“The whaling will be conducted in accordance with international law and within the catch limits calculated in accordance with the method adopted by the IWC to avoid negative impact on cetacean resources,” he said.

Japan’s decision followed the IWC’s latest rejection of its bid to resume commercial whaling at a September meeting, which Suga said showed it was impossible to bridge the gap between whaling advocates and anti-whaling members.

The decision - an unusual step for Japan, which stresses multilateralism in its diplomacy - sparked swift criticism.

“The declaration today is out of step with the international community, let alone the protection needed to safeguard the future of our oceans and these majestic creatures,” international conservationist group Greenpeace said.

“As the chair of the G20 (Group of 20) in 2019, the Japanese government needs to recommit to the IWC and prioritise new measures for marine conservation.”

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters welcomed Japan’s decision to halt whaling in the Southern Ocean, but said he was disappointed with the decision to resume commercial whaling in its exclusive economic zone.

“Whaling is an outdated and unnecessary practice. We continue to hope Japan eventually reconsiders its position and will cease all whaling in order to advance the protection of the ocean’s ecosystems,” Peters said in a statement.

Australia urged Japan to return to the IWC “as a matter of priority”, its environment minister, Melissa Price, said in a statement.

“The Australian Government is extremely disappointed,” Price said. “Australia remains resolutely opposed to all forms of commercial and so-called ‘scientific’ whaling.”

Japan has long defied such protests to conduct what it calls scientific research whaling, having repeatedly said its ultimate goal was to whale commercially again.

In 2014, the International Court of Justice ruled that Japan should halt its Antarctic whaling.

Japan suspended its hunt for one season to re-tool its whaling programme with measures such as cutting the number of whales and species targeted, but resumed hunting in the 2015-2016 season, capping its Antarctic catch with a quota of 333 whales annually.

Japan has long maintained that most whale species are not endangered and that eating whale is part of its culture.

It began scientific whaling in 1987, a year after an international whaling moratorium began.

Much of the meat ends up on store shelves, even though most Japanese no longer eat it. Whale consumption accounted for 0.1 percent of all Japanese meat consumption, according to the Asahi newspaper.

Influential lawmakers in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party whose constituencies include whaling communities have long lobbied for a resumption of commercial whaling. Abe’s own electoral district includes Shimonoseki, a whaling port in western Japan.
Japan announces its intention to resume commercial whaling in July 2019 after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission.