Japan believes that IWC has abandoned its primary purpose of managing whale stocks to become focused on its conservation.
The country's most recent appeal to resume commercial whaling was turned down by the IWC in September this year. This is not the first time that Japan has threatened to quit the IWC, claiming that the whaling ban was imposed as a temporary measure to manage the sustainability of whale stocks.
Japanese officials claim that their plan was to set up a committee that will set limits on whale hunts for sustainable whaling. They also note that certain whale populations, such as minke, have replenished enough to resume commercial hunting.
Japan's Rationale For Pulling Out Of IWC
"Like other inter-governmental organizations, there is a withdrawal process and all member governments have the right to withdraw," Kate Wells, a spokesperson for the IWC, told NPR via email, adding that Japan will have to give notice by Jan. 1 if it wants to leave in 2019.
Japan has criticized the organization's intolerance of different views and their inability to resolve the longstanding conflict between supporters of commercial whaling and conservationists.
Former defense minister Itsunori Onodera, who currently works as an adviser to Liberal Democratic Party's fisheries department revealed in an interview with NHK Television that he was surprised to see the IWC's biased views about whaling and feels that the organization has become dysfunctional.
Other ruling party members also support the resumption of commercial whaling to preserve Japan's traditional cuisine and culture.
Setting A Dangerous Precedent
"Leaving the IWC would set a very dangerous precedent for other international treaties and conventions. Not satisfied with harpooning whales, it now looks like Japan is threatening to harpoon the future of the IWC," said Darren Kindleysides, chief executive of the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
Kindleysides also explained that IWC is now at the forefront of global whale conservation initiative in the 21st century. He added that if Japan truly cares about the future of whales, then they would not pull out of IWC.
Japan has previously sidestepped the IWC moratorium to conduct "research hunts" in the Southern Ocean and later sell whale meat. However, with the increased costs of whaling in the high seas and an aging fleet, Japan wants to restart coastal whaling.
Despite international protests and declining demand for whale meat at home, Japan continues to hunt whales under the garb of research. The country consumes close to 5,000 tons of whale meat procured through research hunts, which are consumed mainly by the older generation who long for the traditional whale meat. The younger population, however, do not see whales as food.
