TOKYO (AP) — Japan is considering leaving the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial whale hunts, the Fisheries Agency said Thursday, after unsuccessfully campaigning for decades within the organization to gain support for the cause. Japan’s request for a resumption of commercial whaling was most recently denied at the IWC meeting in September. IWC imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in the 1980s due to dwindling stocks. Japan has since switched to what it calls research whaling, and says stocks have recovered enough that commercial hunts should resume. Opponents say Japan’s research whaling is a cover for commercial whale hunting because the whale meat is sold for food.

Source: Egypt Independent December 20, 2018 14:15 UTC