1st Edition
Japan's Withdrawal from International Whaling Regulation
This book examines the impact and implications of Japan’s withdrawal from the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), which came into effect in July 2019.
In 1982 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling which has been in effect ever since, despite the resistance of some countries, first and foremost Japan, Norway and Iceland, that engage in commercial whaling. As one of the key contributors to scientific research and funding, Japan’s withdrawal has the potential to have wide-ranging implications and this volume examines the impact of Japan’s withdrawal on the IWC itself, on the governance of whaling, and on indigenous and coastal whaling. It provides backgrounds and commentaries on this decision as well as normative and legal discussions on matters relating to sustainable use of resources, and philosophies surrounding whaling in different IWC countries. The consideration of other international environmental regimes, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), is also examined in order to determine the international ripple effect of Japan’s decision. The book reveals that this is not just a matter of whaling but one which has significant legal, managerial and cultural implications. Drawing on deep analyses of IWC structures, the book addresses core philosophies underlying the whaling debate and in how far these may influence environmental governance in the future.
This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental law and governance, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, as well as policymakers involved in international environmental and conservation agreements.
List of Figures
List of Contributors
List of Acronyms
Acknowledgments
Foreword
1 Introduction
NIKOLAS SELLHEIM AND JOJI MORISHITA
2 A Memoir – Japan’s Road to Withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission
JOJI MORISHITA
PART I
Institutional Implications
3 Exit Japan, Exit International Whaling Commission?
STEINAR ANDRESEN AND DAVID AARVIK NESE
4 As One Door Closes, Does Another Open? Assessing the Future of the Protectionist Agenda at the International Whaling Commission Post-Japan’s Withdrawal
CAMERON JEFFERIES AND HEATHER STOCK
5 ‘Opening up a Procedure’: Might the Re-adherence of Iceland to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling in 2002 Provide an Example for Japan to Follow?
ED COUZENS
6 Spill-over? The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species after Japan’s Withdrawal from the Whaling Convention
NIKOLAS SELLHEIM
PART II
Cultural Considerations
7 Indigenous Whaling After Japan’s Withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission
MALGOSIA FITZMAURICE AND AGNES RYDBERG
8 Canada’s Withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission in 1982 and Restoration of Inuit Bowhead Whaling. Lessons for Japan’s Restoration of Coastal Whaling?
BARRY SCOTT ZELLEN
9 Whales as ‘sacred’ and ‘profane’ in IWC Member State Cultures
NIKOLAS SELLHEIM
PART III
Perspectives
10 Commercial and Institutional Impacts of Japan’s Withdrawal from the Whaling Convention – A Commentary
GAVIN CARTER
11 Whales on the Rise, the IWC Demise and Global Environmental Diplomacy: An Epilogue to the Whaling Wars – A Commentary
JOSÉ TRUDA PALAZZO, JR.
Biography
Nikolas Sellheim is an independent consultant on international conservation law with a specialisation on the IWC and CITES. He is also co-Editor-in-Chief of Polar Record in the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, UK. He has published extensively on different conservation regimes and has conducted two post-docs at Kobe University, Japan, and University of Helsinki, Finland.
Joji Morishita is a retired Professor at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Japan. Since 2013, he had served as Japan’s Commissioner to the IWC and from 2016 to 2018, he served as the Chair of the IWC.
