The last fin whale hunt was in 1989, also under the guise of 'scientific' whaling by Iceland, but it has been illegal for Japan to import any whale products from Iceland since 1992. There is a loophole in international regulations that allows the Japanese to undertake so-called 'scientific' whaling and that hunt is acting as cover for this illegal trade in protected whales. Pro-conservation countries now need to get serious and act to stop this 'scientific' whaling charade. The research shows Korea's protected minke whales are also turning up in Japanese markets. Either Japan is wrong to claim that it kills few whales from the Korean population, or there is illegal trade.
Japan is the only country that still conducts 'scientific' whaling.
It hunts Southern Hemisphere and North Pacific minke whales, killing up to 540 animals each year. They are themselves proving that commercial whaling can never be managed properly. Its scientific committee began meeting on May 3. It also killed the full number of its self-set quota of 100 minke whales in the North Pacific. All Rights Reserved.