(Kyodo photo)TOKYO: Japan has decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission in a bid to resume commercial whaling for the first time in about 30 years, government sources said Thursday. It is extremely rare for Japan to withdraw from an international organisation and the withdrawal could spark criticism from anti-whaling countries. Although Japan halted commercial whaling in line with a moratorium adopted in 1982 by the IWC, it has hunted whales since 1987 for what it calls research purposes, a practice criticised internationally as a cover for commercial whaling. Japan cannot continue research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean if it pulls out of the IWC. "There are fishermen in Japan making their living by whaling and we can't simply end it," one of the officials said.

Source: Bangkok Post December 20, 2018 11:48 UTC