Japan to leave International Whaling Commission, resume commercial hunt

Japan to leave International Whaling Commission, resume commercial hunt

日本将退出国际捕鲸委员会，重新开始商业捕鲸

Japan announced Wednesday that it is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission and will resume commercial whale hunting next year, sparking swift condemnation from other governments and conservation groups.

周三，日本宣布将退出国际捕鲸委员会（IWC），明年将重新开始商业捕鲸，此举立刻招致了其它国家政府和保护组织的谴责。

Tokyo argues that the IWC has failed to live up to its initial dual mandate in 1946, to find a balance between preserving whale stocks and allowing the "orderly development" of the whaling industry. After failing to reach an agreement at a global conference in Brazil in September to resume commercial whaling, Japan is now following through on a threat to withdraw from the global body entirely.

日本认为，国际捕鲸委员会未能行使其 1946 年最初的双重权力，即在保护鲸鱼种群和允许捕鲸业“有序发展”之间找到一种平衡。今年 9 月，在巴西举行的一次全球会议上，日本未能就恢复商业捕鲸达成协议，而现在，日本正要将之前的威胁付诸行动，完全退出这个全球性的捕鲸组织。

"Regrettably, we have reached a decision that it is impossible in the IWC to seek the coexistence of states with different views," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a statement.

日本内阁官房长官菅义伟在一项声明中表示，“令人遗憾的是，我们做出了决定——在国际捕鲸委员会，持有不同观点的国家无法共存。”

As a result, Japan will cease taking whales from the Antarctic Ocean and Southern Hemisphere—where it has ostensibly been killing whales for scientific research—and will conduct commercial whaling "within Japan's territorial sea and its exclusive economic zone," he said.

菅义伟表示，因此，日本将终止在南冰洋和南半球捕鲸（日本曾在此打着科研旗号捕杀鲸鱼），而将“在本国领海和专属经济区内”进行商业捕鲸活动。

Clare Perry, oceans campaigns leader for the Environmental Investigation Agency, said history had demonstrated unequivocally the need for global precautionary management of whale populations.

环境调查局海洋运动负责人克莱尔·佩里表示，历史已一清二楚地证明，在全球范围内，人们有必要对鲸鱼种群进行预防性的管理。

"By leaving the IWC Japan is rejecting multilateralism and setting a very bad precedent for conservation which will likely have very serious negative consequences for the world's whales," she said. "It may bring a reprieve for the whale populations currently protected in international waters but at a very high price."

她说道，“退出国际捕鲸委员会，意味着日本不但拒绝了多边主义，还在保护（鲸鱼）方面开了一个非常不好的头，这有可能对全世界的鲸鱼产生非常严重的消极后果。日本的行为也许会给目前在国际水域受到保护的鲸鱼种群带来一段暂缓期，但付出的代价很高。”

Whale meat was a vital source of protein in Japan as it recovered from the ravages of World War II, but is much less popular these days. Yet the government argues that it is part of Japan's traditional culture, dating back centuries.

当年，日本从二战的疮痍中恢复过来，鲸鱼肉曾是日本蛋白质的重要来源，如今，鲸鱼肉远不如过去那么受欢迎。然而，日本政府认为，几百年来，鲸鱼肉是日本传统文化的一部分。