Ocean Sentry
(From AFP) Japan is ready to spare humpback whales from its Antarctic hunt for another year if international whaling talks make progress, a senior Japanese official said Wednesday.
After strong protests led by Australia, Japan last year dropped plans to start hunting humpback whales for the first time in four decades.
Japan is willing to work with the current chair of the International Whaling Commission by suspending its humpback hunt if there are signs of progress at the IWC, said Japan’s chief whaling negotiator Joji Morishita.
“The final decision will be made at the last moment, I guess. But … the IWC process is moving so I assume that the same situation will apply to the coming research season,” he told a press conference.
