Japanese Whaling in Antarctica: Application Of International Law

Japanese Whaling in Antarctica

Task:

Choose 1 of the following case studies that relate to International Law and complete the activities listed below – compiling them into a report, using appropriate headings / sub-headings

Case Study 1 – Japanese Whaling in Antarctica – although a decision was made on this case in the International Court of Justice it is still an ongoing issue in that Japan has continued to argue for permission to continue Whaling. There are recent resources for this case study.

International law:

Is the set of rules and standards generally accepted in relations between nations. Its area covers a wide range of issues of international concern.

International Court of Justice:

The international Court of Justice is the principle judicial organ of the United Nations. He ICJ’s primary functions are to settle international legal disputes submitted by states and give advisory opinions on legal issues referred to it by the UN.

ICR:

The Institute of Cetacean Research: is a non-profit organization in Japan that claims to be a research organization specializing in the ‘biological and social sciences related to whales’.

Sea Shepherd:

An international non-profit marine conservation organization that campaigns to defend and protect the world’s oceans and works with national authorities to tackle illegal fishing in sovereign waters.

Whaling:

The practice or industry of hunting and killing whales for their oil, meat, or whalebone.

JARPA (joint aquatic resources permit application):

To streamline the permitting process for projects near the shoreline, multiple regulatory agencies (Federal, State and Local) joined forces to create one application that people can use to apply for more than one permit at a time.

HSI (humane society international):

HSI works around the globe to promote the human-animal bond, protect street animals, support farm animal welfare, stop wildlife abuse, eliminate painful animal testing, respond to natural disasters and confront cruelty to animals in all its forms.

Background:

The Japanese Whaling Case involved an application within the Federal Court of Australia for an injunction and declaration to restrain Japanese whaling ships. in the Australian whale sanctuary, adjacent to Antarctica. The case was brought by a conservation group, The Humane Society International. The application of Australian law to Japanese (and other foreign) nationals in Antarctica was based on Australian sovereignty in Antarctica and subsequent declaration of a whale sanctuary within the waters of Australia’s exclusive economic zone around its Antarctic territory. Japan has a scientific permit to take 825 minkle whales and 50 sperm whales every single year for a decade. The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (1946) is the legal agreement which establishes the International Whaling Commission. Article VIII of the Convention states that countries are permitted to kill whales for scientific research purposes. In March 2014, most the ICJ held that Japan’s whaling program in the Antarctic (JARPA II) was not authorized under the International Whaling Convention. In summarizing its judgment, the Court observed: In November 2014 Japan announced it would resume whaling in the Antarctic but with a reduced quota of whales.

Key participants:

The key participants that are involved in the Japanese whaling in Antarctica case is Japans whaling ships and crew the Australian government, the sea Shepard organization and the nisshin maru.

Main issues:

The main issue is that Japan a breaching Japan has a scientific permit to take 825 minkle whales and 50 sperm whales every single year for a decade. But they are killing and keeping the whales from Antarctica within the whale sanctuary. Stats from Japan’s whaling expedition to Antarctica during 2017/2018 that 122 out of 181 female whales they caught were killed pregnant. If statistics like this are reoccurring how can the whale population possibly stay at a healthy rate? Japan aren’t just keeping these whales for “scientific research” they are also selling the meat.

Evidence:

Until japans recent announcement they have used the loophole of ‘scientific whaling’ to side step the IWC ban. And they sell the whale meat on the open market. From these markets the Japanese government have also been making money. The Japanese government subsidizes whaling to the tune of nearly AUS $15 million per year. The three nations that still whale Japan, Norway and Iceland have already killed over 30,000 whales since the moratorium. Their whaling industries wish to carry on whaling on as large a scale as they can possibly do. Japan, Norway and Iceland are avoiding the IWC’s moratorium on whaling finding loopholes. Their ships have Japanese government on the side of the ships now making it hard to pin solid evidence against them and claiming it is for scientific research purposes.

Australia’s involvement:

Australia holds authority over Antarctic territory. This means that therefore, Australia can call a whale sanctuary within their economic zone. This means that Australia tried to call a halt on the Japanese’s actions. Australia based its claims off the international court of justice. Due to Japan having no offices in Australia the Humane Society International (HSI) had to receive permission to continue the case against Japan. This permission was put forward in 2004 and was refused by the Commonwealth Attorney-General as it would be a diplomatic incident, meaning no progress was made. However, Australia’s position was clear that they were against Japan’s actions in their economic zone. An example of Australia trying to protest to stop the whaling, is the sea Shepard tracking the Japanese whaling ships. However, they can no longer do this because the Japanese have put military hardware on the vessel’s leaving the Sea Shepard unable to track them leaving them defenseless.

References:

1. http://envlaw.com.au/japanese-whaling-case/
2. https://au.whales.org/our-4-goals/stop-whaling/whaling-in-japan/
3. https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/endangered_species/cetaceans/cetaceans/iwc/iwc_current_situation/