NEWSWORTHY
Japan on brink of IWC pullout after losing vote on commercial whaling plan
Japan threatens to quit the International Whaling Commission after a tense vote sinks its effort to spark a global return to commercial whaling.
The International Whaling Commission on Wednesday cast a rare strong vote in favor of whale hunting but strictly for small subsistence hunts undertaken by some communities, mostly in the Arctic. The vote confirmed a long-standing commitment to so-called aboriginal subsistence whaling (ASW) for nutritional and ...
Nations lock horns in Brazil over Japan's call to resume whaling
Pro- and anti-whaling nations locked horns Monday as the International Whaling Commission (IWC) began meeting in Brazil amid outrage over Japan's proposal to end a three-decade old moratorium on commercial whale hunting. Incoming IWC Chairman Joji Morishita said the meeting could determine the future of ...
Tiny Alaska village experiences boom in tourists seeking to see polar bears as Arctic ice shrinks
A tiny Alaska Native village has experienced a boom in tourism in recent years as polar bears spend more time on land than on diminishing Arctic sea ice. More than 2,000 people visited the northern Alaska village of Kaktovik on the Beaufort Sea last year ...
Japan and Australia agreed Friday to make efforts to prevent their whaling dispute from hurting bilateral relations, a government official said. During talks in Singapore, Foreign Minister Taro Kono briefed his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop about Japan's proposal to restructure the International Whaling Commission to ...
Is it a blue whale or not? The slaughter in Iceland of what is claimed was a member of the endangered species has triggered outrage and left experts puzzled about its true identity. "There has not been a blue whale harpooned by anyone for the ...
Japan will seek a partial resumption of commercial whaling at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission later this year, officials said Wednesday. Tokyo has regularly sought the easing of the IWC's moratorium on commercial whaling and continues to kill whales as part of what ...
122 pregnant minke whales killed in Japan's annual whale hunt: report
A highly controversial annual whaling expedition Tokyo defends as scientific research but that conservationists call "gruesome and unnecessary" killed 122 pregnant minke whales, a report by Japanese authorities shows. The four-month expedition in the Antarctic ended in March after the fleet killed 333 minke whales ...
Japan's whaling fleet returns after catching 333 on Antarctic hunt devoid of protests
Japan's whaling fleet returned on Saturday after catching more than 300 of the mammals in the Antarctic Ocean without interference from anti-whaling protests, officials said. The fleet of five whalers set sail for the Southern Ocean in November in line with Tokyo's continued pursuit of ...
Japanese director's pro-whaling documentary wins award at London film festival
A 2015 documentary on local supporters of Japan’s traditions of whaling and dolphin-hunting won an international film festival award Saturday in London.
Japan seeks upgrades to whaling 'mother ship' in latest signal that hunts will continue
Japan is considering upgrading its aging lead whaling ship, a fisheries official confirmed Wednesday, in a sign that the country's controversial Antarctic hunts will continue despite international outcry. The Fisheries Agency has requested ¥100 million ($910,000) in the national budget for a study into the ...
The Wakayama Prefecture town of Taiji, known for its whaling and dolphin hunts, said Wednesday it has established a sister city relationship with a town in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic that conducts similar harvesting. Taiji Mayor Kazutaka Sangen told a news conference ...
