Japan allows commercial whaling on Finnish whales
Japan has now expanded its commercial whaling to include fin whales. The second-largest marine mammals in the world have been added to Tokyo's official hunting list. "Our reasoning is fundamentally that there is a sufficient population of fin whales," an official from the Fisheries Agency told AFP on Thursday. Up to 59 fin whales are expected to be hunted this year.
Japan is one of only three countries, along with Norway and Iceland, that allow commercial whaling. Minke, Bryde, and sei whales were previously on Tokyo's list. After months of debate, fin whales have been added, despite being classified as endangered, the second-largest marine mammals after blue whales.
Whaling has been a tradition in Japan for centuries, with the government claiming it should be preserved. Even after the International Whaling Commission (IWC) implemented a global moratorium in 1986, banning commercial whaling internationally, Japan continued to kill whales, supposedly for research purposes only. However, a portion of the meat from these killed animals was used for consumption, which Japan never denied.
After failing to push for the resumption of commercial whaling, Japan withdrew from the IWC in 2019 and resumed commercial whaling in its territorial waters. Last year, 294 whales were killed.
On the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) list of prohibited species, fin whales were initially excluded. Despite being classified as endangered, Japan decided to include fin whales On the list of marine mammals it can legally hunt.
