Japan, Norway Fret as Whaling Ban Holds

The International Whaling Commission adjourned Friday with the moratorium on commercial whaling still in place, but before the ink was dry Japan lashed out at the ban and Norway vowed to defy it.

Hours after the 40-nation group wrapped up its annual meeting in Japan’s old imperial capital, Norwegian Foreign Minister Johan Jorgen said in Oslo that his nation would announce a quota and hunting dates next week.

Even before the meeting began, Norway said it intended to hunt again. Fourteen commission members, including the United States, expressed “profound regret” over Norway’s intentions.

Japan was rebuffed in a bid to win permission to catch about 50 minke whales as an “emergency” allocation for small, hard-hit whaling towns.

That rejection drew a sharp rebuke from Japan’s blunt-spoken chief delegate, Kazuo Shima, who opened and closed the five-day meeting with denunciations of efforts to make whales “the sacred cows of the seas.”

Shima blasted what he called the “chaotic” state of the commission, declaring at a news conference Friday: “It is by no means a normal organization.”

Even commission officials acknowledged the group was at a crossroads.

Originally a whaling nations’ forum, in recent years it has moved increasingly toward emphasizing environmental and anti-whaling positions--a trend that has led to polarization.

Nobuyasu Abe, the No. 2 man on the Japanese delegation, said the commission had lost sight of its original goal of managing whaling.

The fight over whaling came at a time when trade tensions are already running high between Washington and Tokyo.

The U.S. delegation said it was pleased with the outcome but studiously avoided making too much of the setbacks Japan suffered on its home turf.

Japan pointed to some successes, though. While the commercial ban remained in place, Japan and Norway garnered more support for the idea of allowing traditional whaling villages to resume the catch.

Under the commercial ban, Japan and Norway have been allowed to carry out limited research whaling. They were given permission to do so again in the coming year.

Japan and Norway went into the meeting pushing for permission to resume commercial hunting of minke whales, the smallest species of great whales.

The group’s scientific committee said minkes could be hunted in limited numbers without depleting stocks, but environmentalists argued the ban was justified.