I was bemused to read the musings of fellow countryman B.W. Tutty in the Jan. 4 letter "Hunt whales in home waters." Tutty implies that Japan is catching whales in "New Zealand's Antarctic waters." Yet Japan is catching whales from parts of the Antarctic Ocean that are widely regarded as international waters — not New Zealand's.
Tutty's reference to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources is also irrelevant. Regulation of whaling in international waters is primarily the mandate of the International Whaling Commission. Thus Tutty would be better advised to direct any genuine complaint about Japan's activities to the New Zealand government. The New Zealand government is, after all, one of the many signatories to the IWC's convention, which legitimizes Japan's activities in international waters with respect to whales.