일, 고래잡이 다시 나서 VIDEO: Japan May Start Commercial Whale Hunting Again

Japan May Start Commercial Whale Hunting Again

By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer | December 20, 2018 10:54am ET

Japan plans to leave the International Whaling Commission so that it can resume commercially hunting the giants of the ocean, according to news reports from government sources.

Researchers in Japan check a minke whale at Ayukawa port in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Kyodo/Newscom

일, 고래잡이 다시 나서 국제포경위원회(IWC) 탈퇴   일본 정부가 내년에 국제포경위원회(IWC)를 탈퇴하기로 했다. 20일 교도통신은 정부 관계자 말을 인용해 일본 정부가 IWC 탈퇴 이후 일본 주변 바다와 일본의 배타적경제수역(EEZ) 내에서 고래잡이를 하는 방안을 검토 중이라고 보도했다. 일본 정부는 이 같은 방침을 이달 말께 IWC에 공식 통보할 예정이다.  세계 각국에서 고래를 마구 잡아들이면서 개체 수가 급격히 줄자 IWC는 지난 1986년 판매 등 상업적 목적을 위한 고래잡이를 ‘일시중지(moratorium)’시켰다. 하지만 일본 정부는 어느 정도 개체 수가 회복됐다고 주장하며 포경 재개를 요청해와 9월 브라질에서 열린 IWC 총회에 해당 안건이 회부됐지만 다수의 반대로 부결되며 뜻을 이루지 못했다. 거듭되는 요청이 받아들여질 가능성이 없다고 판단한 일본 정부는 상업용 고래잡이(포경)를 자국 주변에서라도 재개하기 위해 IWC를 탈퇴하기로 방침을 정한 것이다.   국제포경위 탈퇴 선언 왜?  日 연간 고래고기 5,000톤 유통  오랜 식문화 단절 피하기 위해   EPA연합뉴스 일본의 국제기구 탈퇴는 극히 이례적이다. 일본 내각 일부에서도 IWC 탈퇴로 일본이 국제사회의 규범을 경시하는 ‘약탈 포경국(pirate whaling nation)’으로 낙인 찍히는 게 아닌가 하는 우려가 제기되고 있다. 그럼에도 일본이 이번 조치를 강행하는 데는 일본 내 고래고기에 대한 높은 수요를 더 이상 억누르는 것이 한계에 도달했다는 판단이 크게 작용했다는 후문이다. 국제적 비난을 감수하고서라도 일본의 오랜 식(食)문화 단절을 피하기 위한 행보라는 해석이다. 일본 국민은 고래고기를 즐기는 것으로 유명하다. 니혼게이자이신문 등에 따르면 일본의 고래 소비량은 1960년대 이후 연간 23만톤 이상에 달한다. 이후 고래잡이 과정의 잔혹성 등이 알려지면서 소비가 줄기는 했지만 여전히 연간 유통량이 5,000톤이나 된다. 다만 반(反)포경국의 반발과 국제관계 악화를 고려해 집권 여당인 자민당 의원 등을 주축으로 관련 국가들을 방문해 이를 설명하고 이해를 구하기로 했다고 현지 언론은 전했다.  김민정기자 jeong@sedaily.com  서울경제 출처 : https://www.sedaily.com/NewsView/1S8JFM5SFF

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While Japan has hunted whales under the guise of science since the 1980s, this would be the first time in 30 years that it hunted them solely for commercial purposes, Kyodo News reported.

The move drew a swift rebuke from Australia; and other anti-whaling countries will likely condemn the plan, as well, The Guardian reported. Japan is expected to give its final decision on the matter as early as next week, according to Kyodo News. [Images: Sharks & Whales from Above]

The announcement comes after Japan's latest attempt to pursue commercial whaling was rejected at an IWC meeting in Brazil in September. All commercial whaling has been banned by the IWC since 1984, but a few countries, including Japan, have found loopholes. For instance, Norway and Iceland use technical objections to get around the ban, and Japan historically has claimed it was hunting whales for scientific purposes, The Guardian reported. In addition, some indigenous groups are allowed to hunt whales for subsistence.

In the past, Japan attempted to get permission to commercially hunt just those whales that have greater numbers in the wild, such as the common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), which is listed as an animal of "least concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In contrast, the IUCN lists the Antarctic minke whale (B. bonaerensis) as "near threatened." Japan's commercial whaling proposals have always been stopped by anti-whaling countries, including Australia and New Zealand, Kyodo News reported.

If Japan leaves the IWC, it will have to abandon its so-called whaling research in the Antarctic Ocean. But, according to Kyodo News, Japan plans to stop these controversial expeditions anyway, and instead will direct its commercial whalers to seas near the country and to its exclusive economic zone.

Japanese government officials framed the issue as an economic one.

"There are fishermen in Japan making their living by whaling, and we can't simply end it," an unnamed official told Kyodo News.

However, another fisheries agency official said that Japan has no intention of withdrawing from the IWC. "Japan’s official position, that we want to resume commercial whaling as soon as possible, has not changed," the official told The Guardian. “But reports that we will leave the IWC are incorrect.”

Japan whaling (picture-alliance/dpa/Kyodo)/DW

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Japan has long towed the line with the IWC, which was established in 1948. This past spring, Japan faced pushback after it came to light that Japanese whalers had killed 333 Antarctic minke whales, including 122 pregnant whales and 114 calves, during the summer of 2017, Live Science previously reported.

Moreover, in 2014, the United Nations' International Court of Justice ordered that Japan stop its annual hunts in the Antarctic Ocean, because these hunts were clearly not for scientific purposes but rather for dinner menus. But one year later, Japan resumed hunting in the region, albeit with a reduced quota that was two-thirds of its previous catch, The Guardian reported.

Japan previously threatened to leave the IWC in 2007, but changed its mind after talking with representatives from the United States and other member nations, according to Kyodo News.

https://www.livescience.com/64364-japan-may-resume-commercial-whaling.html

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