CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -The moratorium on commercial whaling led Iceland to withdraw in protest from the IWC, as it had threatened to do if the moratorium was extended.

Detailed explanation-2: -Indeed, the decision to withdraw from the IWC further tarnished Japanese reputation among the anti-whaling camp, and brought another wave of criticism from the international community as well as from within Japan. The decision can only be understood as political.

Detailed explanation-3: -The IWC banned commercial whaling in 1982. Following is a statement from Taryn Kiekow Heimer, Deputy Director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): “Japan is now a rogue whaling nation.

Detailed explanation-4: -Two whaling vessels departed Ayukawa Port in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, on 3 April – the first vessels to depart for the start of Japan’s 2022 commercial whaling season, which runs from 1 April to the end of the year.

Detailed explanation-5: -The original 15 members of the IWC were Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Japan joined in 1951.