On December 26th, 2018, Japan announced that it would be withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The nation stated that it would resume its commercial whaling business in its coastal area in July of this year. While this decision has sparked a much-justified backlash from the international community and conservation groups, Japan’s decision to leave the IWC presents a tangible opportunity for the IWC to take a definite step towards ending whaling on a global scale.

The IWC is an international organisation focused on regulating commercial whaling until populations are high enough to allow for limited and sustained commercial whaling. In 1986, the IWC placed a temporary prohibition on whaling as a means of restoring populations to a sustainable level. The ban is still in effect today. Excluded from this moratorium, however, is the practice of scientific whaling, which allows whales to be hunted and studied for the purpose of research.

For years, Japan has used this cover of “research” to catch thousands of whales a year, selling the meat as a commercial product afterwards. They have argued that the killings were necessary to obtain basic biological information about the animals, such as reproduction rates; but Leah Gerber, a marine mammal biologist at Arizona State University, states that the killings are unnecessary. In fact, blubber biopsies, which can be extracted from a whale without harming the animal, are able to provide a multitude of information on both diets and reproductive rates. Japan was also unable to justify the number of whales used for their research, which, according to the National Geographic, consists of 850 minke whales, 50 fin whales, and 50 humpbacks.

In 2014, the International Court of Justice sided with Australia, who argued that the scientific whale hunt was a clear cover to allow Japanese whalers to continue the commercial whale meat industry and banned the practice of whaling under the shield of research. However, due to the limited enforcement options, Japan has been able to continue its illegal whaling activity, most of which is conducted in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, with few repercussions.

Japan’s decision to leave the IWC in December of last year presented both advantages and disadvantages for the IWC and the future of whaling. The main issue is the return of open commercial whaling to Japan after 33 years. The Kyodo news agency has obtained sources in the fisheries association reporting that the new commercial whaling fleet would spend weeks hunting Minke whales, Baird’s beaked whales, and black whales until late August. Yet, there are currently no plans for the Japanese boats to hunt beyond their coastal lines into international waters.

The loss of Japan as a member also includes a significant financial loss for the IWC. By contributing a total of US$158,429 per year, Japan was the largest donor to the organisation’s core budget, the bulk of which went to staffing costs and research.

Alongside the continuation of the open commercial hunt and the financial loss accompanying Japan’s decision, Japan has faced much criticism from the international community. The Australian government, which has often been a vocal critic of Japan’s whaling policies, said it was “extremely disappointed” by the move. Melissa Price, Australia’s Environment Minister, as well as Foreign Minister Marise Payne, both stated that “Australia remains resolutely opposed to all forms of commercial and so-called ‘scientific’ whaling,” and expressed their sincere disappointment at Japan’s decision.

Greenpeace also criticised the decision and argued that Japan’s view that whale stocks have recovered is unstable, as ocean life is still under the dire threat of pollution and overfishing. Following Japan’s announcement on December 26th, Sam Annesley, the executive director at Greenpeace, stated that “The declaration today is out of step with the international community, let alone the protection needed to safeguard the future of our oceans and these majestic creatures.” The move means Japan will join Iceland and Norway in openly defying the decades-old ban set by the IWC.

There are also clear advantages associated with Japan’s decision that could benefit the organisation and work to end, or at least seriously decrease, future whaling practices. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said his government left the IWC because the organisation was too dominated by conservationists and was not focusing on developing the whaling industry. However, this decision terminates Japan’s ability to conduct their whaling under the research permit. The fact that Japan can no longer exploit the organisation’s exception means that any “scientific” trips to Antarctica and the Northwest Pacific stop in July. Japan will instead limit their fleets to a 200-mile radius along its coast. The hunt will focus on three species, all of them baleen whales: Minke, Sei and Bryde’s whale. Japan states that its catch limits will be calculated “in accordance with the method adopted by the IWC to avoid negative impact on cetacean resources.” Suga also stated that the return to commercial whaling will be “in line with Japan’s basic policy of promoting sustainable use of aquatic living resources based on scientific evidence,” and that Japan will develop a quota system designed to deliver a sustainable catch.

Japan has also long been accused of using its financial power to influence the decisions of other IWC members, as Matthew Collis of the International Fund for Animal Welfare told New Scientist. Without Japan’s presence in the organisation, the IWC increases its ability to function and work for the conservation of whales.

According to both Sea Shepherd, a non-profit marine conservation organisation, and Nature, a British multidisciplinary scientific journal, one of the most significant benefits to Japan leaving the IWC is the increase in autonomy and independence for the organisation’s remaining members and its researchers. Now that some of the politics that halted cetacean science and conservation efforts have dissipated, it will allow the IWC to pass a motion establishing the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary outlawing all whaling in the international waters of the Southern Hemisphere.

Although the loss of a significant whaling nation is a major blow to the IWC and activist groups, efforts can now be focused on finalising a permanent sanctuary in the Southern Ocean, as well as looking towards establishing sanctuaries in the Northern Hemisphere. Ironically, Japan’s departure might just have been the catalyst to a brighter future for whale conservation.