Japanese laws are ill-equipped to protect marine mammals and need an overhaul if these animals are to receive attention akin to their terrestrial counterparts, according to a leading wildlife expert.
While experts from around the world discuss whaling questions at the ongoing International Whaling Commission conference in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan has significant domestic issues that receive scant attention but need to be ironed out, according to Shinichi Hayama, an assistant professor at the Nippon Veterinary and Animal Science University in Tokyo.
For one thing, marine mammals receive short shrift.