Whaling commission seeks tighter controls

The International Whaling Commission has said that countries must in the future apply for a permit to hunt whales for scientific research, in a political statement intended to clamp down on Japan’s activities.

Meeting between 24 and 28 October, the IWC adopted a resolution stating that countries must apply to the commission to conduct so-called ‘scientific whaling’, to be signed off by the other members of the group.

As it stands, countries are entitled to assign self-appointed quotas, which has led to controversy over Japan’s high rate of whaling that it says is for scientific research purposes.