ICJ decision harpoons ‘scientific’ whaling

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully has welcomed today’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision that Japan’s Southern Ocean whaling programme does not serve the purposes of scientific research, and must cease.

“The ICJ decision sinks a giant harpoon into the legality of Japan’s whaling programme: JARPA II,” Mr McCully says.

“New Zealand has consistently opposed Japan’s so-called ‘scientific’ whaling, which is a practice that is deeply offensive to many New Zealanders.

“The Court has found that there are limits on the way Japan can conduct so-called ‘scientific’ whaling and that Japan’s JARPA II programme does not meet reasonable criteria for scientific research.

“New Zealand hopes Japan will accept and respect the Court’s decision,” Mr McCully says.