Japan planning resumption of commercial whaling

Japan is poised to end its whaling programme in the Southern Ocean but will resume commercial whaling within its own waters, according to Japanese news reports. The Kyodo news agency, quoting unnamed government sources, said Japan is about to announce its withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission. A Japanese fisheries agency official denied the report. Glenn Inwood is a maritime consultant and a former spokesperson for Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research, which lobbies on behalf of the whaling industry.