Turn the fleet around

(Sydney, Australia – 17th November 2008)The Australian Government should formally request the Government of Japan to recall its whaling fleet immediately, or take international legal action to stop the whalers, according to IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare).

In defiance of international pressure and several laws the Government of Japan’s whaling fleet has snuck out of harbour and is on route to the pristine Antarctic whale sanctuary to kill nearly 1000 whales, including endangered fin whales.

“For the 21st consecutive year Japan is blatantly disregarding international laws and treaties by setting off to kill whales in the Southern Ocean and they are being allowed to get away with it,” IFAW Programs Manager, Darren Kindleysides, said.

“Last year the Australian Government fired a warning shot across the bows of the Japanese whaling fleet by sending the Customs vessel, the Oceanic Viking, to document the killing.

“However, diplomacy has failed to keep the fleet in port and the reality is that almost 1000 whales will die this season.”

"If the Government of Japan will not suspend its ‘scientific whaling’ program then the evidence gathered by the Oceanic Viking must be used to mount a case against the Government of Japan in international courts and tribunals.”

Legal analyses by international panels of independent legal experts convened in Paris, London and Sydney have found Japan's expanding commercial whaling to be in violation of several international laws and treaties including IWC regulations, the Antarctic Treaty System and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Japan’s whalers have killed 8728 whales in the Southern Ocean since 1987 when they first used the cover of “scientific research” to get around the international whaling ban brought in by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1986.

For media-related inquiries, contact:
Kerry Glenn
IFAW Asia Pacific Communications Officer
(+61) 2 9288 4993
Email: kglenn@ifaw.org