Environmentalist claims Japan's whaling is really about preserving access to distant water fisheries (Opinion)
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [New York Times] By Peter Wynn Kirby - October 13, 2014 -
(Peter Wynn Kirby is an environmental researcher and Japan specialist at the University of Oxford, and the author of “Troubled Natures: Waste, Environment, Japan.”)
TOKYO, The International Court of Justice’s decision last March to prohibit Japan’s annual whale hunt in Antarctic waters was greeted by many as an historic step against a reprehensible practice.
Yet last month, despite the enormous diplomatic toll, Japan vowed to continue its whaling activities under a controversial research program of dubious scientific merit.
Japan’s determination may seem puzzling, but only if you assume its whaling activities are about science, or that its purportedly scientific whaling is a cover for commercial whaling. In fact, Japan’s pro-whaling stance isn’t really about whales at all; instead, it is about ensuring access to other fishing resources.
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