MADEIRA, Portugal (Kyodo) The International Whaling Commission agreed Tuesday to postpone for one year its decision on whether to allow Japan to hunt whales in its coastal waters in return for scaling down or ending its research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean.
On the second day of the IWC's annual general meeting on the Portuguese island of Madeira, IWC members unanimously supported the postponement in line with an agreement by an IWC panel.
The latest IWC action dashed Japan's hope that whaling in its coastal areas could resume soon.