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Icelandic hunting vessels in port

Whaling boat kept in port after more hunt cruelty exposed

Icelandic whale hunting fleet One of the whaling boats involved in the latest hunts in...
Commerson's dolphin

New Important Marine Mammal Areas added to global ocean conservation list

Commerson's dolphin Experts from a number of countries have mapped out a new set of...
Image showing two harpoon wounds in fin whale

Whalers kill just days after Iceland’s hunt suspension is lifted

Whalers in Iceland have claimed their first victims since the lifting (just a few days...
Fin whale

Icelandic government lifts suspension on cruel hunts

The Icelandic government is to allow fin whales to be hunted again after lifting a...

Japanese company guilty of illegal whaling in Australian sanctuary

A court in Sydney, Australia has imposed a AUS$1 million fine ($USD 700k, £465k) on a Japanese company over its whaling activities in the Australian Whale Santuary in Antarctica.

The company, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, was found guilty of killing whales on four separate visits between December 2008 and March 2014, despite a previous court ruling prohibiting it from doing so. The judge, Justice Margaret Jagot, found the company in contempt of court, saying the whaling was a “deliberate, systematic and sustained” breach of the previous ruling, which had been applied under Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The ruling comes as the Japanese government considers renewing its whaling activities in Antarctica. Previously it had agreed to abide by a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that found that the hunts were not being conducted for scientific research and must stop. However, in October the Japanese government told the UN that the ICJ’s jurisdiction “does not apply to … any dispute arising out of, concerning, or relating to research on, or conservation, management or exploitation of, living resources of the sea”.

In April of this year, the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) rejected Japan’s latest request for a scientific whaling quota. The Australian Government is now considering its options following Japan’s decision to ignore the ICJ’s ruling.


About George Berry

George is a member of WDC's Communications team and website coordinator.