Japan to resume commercial whaling after leaving IWC - report

[nitpicker]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/20/japan-to-resume-commercial-whaling-after-leaving-iwc-report

Japan to resume commercial whaling after leaving IWC – report

Justin McCurry in Tokyo and Graham Readfearn

Thu 20 Dec 2018 03.27 GMT

Japan is to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and resume commercial whaling next year, a report claimed on Thursday, in a move that drew condemnation from Australia, with other anti-whaling nations expected to follow suit.

Japan will inform the IWC of its decision by the end of the year, Kyodo news agency said, months after the body rejected its latest bid to resume commercial whaling.

Kyodo quoted unnamed government sources as saying Japan would abandon its controversial, and expensive, expeditions to the Southern Ocean and instead permit whaling fleets to operate in its coastal waters and exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

A fisheries agency official denied the report, however, insisting no decision had been taken on whether to withdraw from the IWC, which banned commercial whaling in 1986.
(snip)

[catbyte]

1. Utterly disgusting, especially since the polls I've seen is that most Japanese favor

ceasing whaling, and the consumption of whale meat has drastically declined. It's all about greed. Assholes.

[DetlefK]

2. The weird thing is that whale-meat doesn't even taste good.

I've read that it tastes rancid.

Eating whale is simply a tradition that was invented in the 1950s and that some people refuse to let go.