Japan is still actively engaged in whaling, but the activity operates under fundamentally different parameters than in previous decades. The country formally resumed commercial whaling in July 2019, ending the controversial “scientific research” hunts conducted in international waters. This shift meant the hunt was no longer carried out under a legal loophole but was instead explicitly commercial, though strictly limited to waters near Japan. The current operations are managed entirely through a domestic framework following Japan’s withdrawal from the international body that once governed the global industry.
The International Whaling Commission and Japan’s Withdrawal
The modern controversy over Japanese whaling is rooted in the 1986 International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium, which established a temporary global ban on commercial whaling due to severely depleted whale stocks. Japan, a long-standing IWC member, reluctantly complied but immediately exploited a provision in the governing convention. Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling permits governments to issue special permits for taking whales for scientific research.
This provision allowed Japan to continue its whale hunts under the guise of “scientific research” programs, such as the Antarctic-based JARPA and JARPA II. The meat from these caught whales was subsequently sold for consumption. This practice, often labeled as a cover for commercial whaling by critics, was maintained for decades despite numerous IWC resolutions urging its cessation. The legal dispute escalated in 2014 when the United Nations’ International Court of Justice ruled that Japan’s Antarctic whaling program was not scientific and ordered it to stop.
After years of lobbying the IWC to lift the moratorium or allow for “sustainable whaling,” Japan announced its formal withdrawal from the organization in December 2018. The withdrawal took effect on June 30, 2019, releasing Japan from the binding constraints of the IWC’s moratorium. The government justified this move by stating the IWC had failed to fulfill its mandate of both conservation and the orderly development of the whaling industry. The decision meant Japan was no longer subject to international oversight and could restart explicit commercial whaling operations.
Resumption of Commercial Whaling and Geographic Limits
The most significant change following the IWC withdrawal was the re-designation of the hunt as commercial, ending the previous legal fiction of scientific research. This transition also fundamentally altered the geographical scope of the operations. The previous scientific whaling missions often took place in distant international waters, most notably in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary near Antarctica.
The current commercial hunts are strictly confined to Japan’s territorial waters and its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles from its coastline. By limiting whaling to its own sovereign waters, Japan operates within the bounds of international law concerning marine resource management. This spatial restriction was a calculated move to reduce international diplomatic friction and avoid the protests that characterized the high-seas scientific hunts.
The shift ensures that Japanese whalers no longer venture into the Southern Ocean, effectively creating a true sanctuary in that region. This domestic-focused approach means the international framework for whale management has been replaced by Japan’s own domestic regulatory controls. This self-regulation framework involves the Fisheries Agency setting annual quotas and managing operations based on their own scientific assessments of local whale populations. The change in location also means the industry is now primarily coastal and closer to the four traditional whaling communities.
Species Targeted and Domestic Quotas
The commercial whaling operations now focus on specific whale species deemed sufficiently abundant in Japan’s EEZ. The primary targets include Minke whales, Bryde’s whales, and Sei whales. These species were selected based on stock assessments conducted by Japan’s domestic scientific bodies, which determined that their North Pacific populations were healthy enough to support a sustainable harvest.
The Japanese Fisheries Agency sets an annual, self-allocated catch limit for commercial whalers. The combined quota for the three permitted species has recently been set around 379 animals per year. This overall quota is subdivided among the three target species, with Minke and Bryde’s whales typically accounting for the largest share. These numerical limits are significantly smaller than the quotas Japan pursued during its Antarctic scientific program, which often aimed for hundreds of whales in a single season.
The domestic quota system is intended to provide a predictable supply of whale meat to the domestic market, though consumption levels in Japan have dropped substantially since the 1960s. Despite the smaller scale of the current operation, the international community maintains its opposition to all forms of commercial whaling. This controversy is likely to continue, especially as Japan has begun proposing the addition of larger species, such as Fin whales, to its list of commercially targeted animals.