Watch International Court of Justice Australia v Japan in the matter of commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean - live June 26-July 16, 2013

The elusive white humpback whale known as Migaloo in 2012 off Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland. Picture: Marc McCormack

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands Tel.: +31 (0)70 302 2323 Fax: +31 (0)70 364 9928 Website: www.icj-cij.org Press Release Unofficial

 No. 2013/14

12 June 2013

Public hearings in the case concerning Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening) Public admission and media accreditation Live and on-demand webcasts

THE HAGUE, 12 June 2013. As announced in Press Release 2013/7 issued on 11 April 2013, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in the case concerning Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening) from Wednesday 26 June to Tuesday 16 July 2013, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court.

1. Access for members of the Diplomatic Corps

Owing to the limited number of seats available in the Great Hall of Justice, members of the Diplomatic Corps wishing to attend the hearings are kindly asked to inform the Information Department before midnight on Sunday 23 June 2013, by e-mail to confirmation@icj-cij.org. Diplomatic missions are kindly requested to limit their delegations to two persons.

Should members of the Diplomatic Corps decide at any point not to attend a hearing for which they have reserved a seat/s, they are kindly requested to inform the Information Department so that their seat/s can be reallocated.

2. Access for media representatives

Media representatives are subject to an online accreditation procedure, details of which can be found in the Media Advisory attached to this Press Release. The accreditation procedure will close at midnight on Sunday 23 June 2013.

3. Access for members of the public

Owing to the very limited number of seats available in the Great Hall of Justice, priority access will be given to members of the delegations of States that are parties to the case, and members of the Diplomatic Corps.

A small number of seats will be allocated daily to members of the public on a first come first served basis. There will be no advance registration procedure, all previously sent requests to attend these hearings will be ignored.

4. Live and on-demand webcasts

We strongly advise members of the public to watch the hearings on the Court’s website, where they will be broadcast live and in full (www.icj-cij.org, under the heading “Multimedia”), or on the online television channel “UN Web TV (http://webtv.un.org/)”.

The hearings will subsequently also be available as a recorded webcast (VOD) on the United Nations Web TV website (http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/).

5. Schedule for and information on the hearings

The schedule for the hearings is available on the Calendar on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org). Verbatim records of the hearings will be published daily on the Court’s website (with translations to follow as soon as practicable thereafter). On the final day of the hearings, a Press Release will be issued presenting the submissions of the Parties (the Court’s press releases do not constitute official documents).

6. History of the proceedings

The history of the proceedings can be found in Press Release No. 2013/7 of 11 April 2013, which is available on the Court’s website.

_________ 

Just when you think the Institute for Cetacean Research cannot sink any lower, the media reports this..................

ABC News 2 June 2013:

Japan's peak whaling body has launched a new campaign to promote whale meat as a nutritious food that enhances physical strength and reduces fatigue.

With about 5,000 tonnes of whale meat sitting unwanted in freezers around Japan, the country's Institute for Cetacean Research has decided to launch a new campaign to promote the by-product of its so-called scientific whaling program.

Once popular in school lunches, younger generations of Japanese rarely, if ever, eat whale.

But the institute hopes to revive flagging interest by advertising whale meat as a great source of balenine - a substance believed to enhance energy and physical health….

Sushi made from Minke whale meat and blubber

International Court of Justice to hear Australia's case against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean on June 26, 2013

Media Release

ATTORNEY-GENERAL TO REPRESENT AUSTRALIA 

 IN INTERNATIONAL WHALING CASE AGAINST JAPAN

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC will appear in Australia’s whaling case against Japan which has now been set down for a three week hearing in the International Court of Justice in the Hague from 26 June, 2013.
“I welcome the announcement of the ICJ hearing date. Australia wants this slaughter to end. We will now have our day in court to establish, once and for all, that Japan’s whaling hunt is not for scientific purposes and is against international law,” said Mr Dreyfus.
“The fixing of the date sets up the final stage in this case brought by the Australian Government. The oral hearings are the last phase of legal proceedings before the Court makes its decision.”
Australia commenced the proceedings against Japan on 31 May 2010. The International Court of Justice has received written submissions from both Parties.
Australia’s views on whaling are well known – we condemn all commercial whaling, including Japan’s so-called ‘scientific’ whaling,” said Minister for Environment Tony Burke.
“The Australian Government’s decision to bring this legal action demonstrates our determination to end commercial whaling.”
Minister for Foreign Affairs Bob Carr said Australia’s whaling case did not undermine the relationship between Australia and Japan.
“Australia and Japan have agreed that our differences over whaling will not affect the strong bilateral relationship we share,” said Mr Carr.
“The International Court of Justice is the appropriate forum to resolve these differences in a calm and measured way.”
Counsel appearing in the case with the Attorney-General will include Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson SC, Bill Campbell QC, Professor James Crawford SC, Professor Philippe Sands QC and Professor Laurence Boisson de Chazournes.
“We hope the Court will deliver its decision on the legality of Japan’s whaling before the start of the next whaling season,” Mr Dreyfus said.

April 12, 2013

ICJ hearing schedule

Spokesperson for Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research finally admits that its Antartic operation is about commercial whaling

 

The Japan Daily Press 27 February 2013:

 

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said that there will probably no end to whaling in Japan, in spite of the sometimes violent objection from conservationists. He believes that the criticism of the whaling practice is “a cultural attack, a kind of prejudice against Japanese culture”.
 
Australian Environment Minister Tony Burke in The Age 28 February 2013: 

How absurd has the argument become, if Japan is now arguing that it has a traditional cultural practice of travelling from one side of the planet to the other to kill whales in a whale sanctuary.

 

Glenn Inwood of Omeka Public Relations and SpinItWide, as a spokesperson for the Institute of Cetacean Research, makes an admission that commercial whaling is a stand alone reason for the Japanese Government sponsored annual whale kills in Antarctic waters.

 

Excerpt from ABC TV 7.30 program 27 February 2013:

 

LEIGH SALES: Say then I take you at your word. If this really was for just scientific research given the enormously bad PR that whaling delivers for Japan, why not just leave the scientific research to somebody else?

GLENN INWOOD: Yes, that's perfectly right but Japan wants to undertake more than just scientific research on abundant whale stocks in the Southern Ocean. It wants to undertake a limited, very limited commercial hunt on abundant whale species for food for Japanese people. There's lots of arguments going on and around this. At the end of the day this is Japan's right under the international law, under the international convention for the regulation of whaling. It is their right to do this and that's what they want.

LEIGH SALES: We will be interested to see what the ICJ says about that. Glenn Inwood thank you very much for joining us.

Did the Government of Japan condone what appears to be the deliberate ramming of Sea Shepherd ships?

 

Excerpt from an Institute of Cetacean Research media release dated 20 February 2013:

 

On February 20 around 1100JST until about 1200JST during refueling operations, the Antarctic whale research (JARPAII) mother ship Nisshin Maru (NM) and her supply tanker were subject to sabotage by the Sea Shepherd (SS) ships Steve Irwin (SI), Bob Barker (BB) and Sam Simon (SmS). The SI and BB are sailing under the flag of the Netherlands while the SmS has Australian registry.
1. As the NM was about to come alongside her supply tanker for refueling, SS vessels, SI, BB and SmS, in foolhardy obstruction attempts, repeatedly came at close-quarter distance with the NM and the supply tanker. During their obstruction to refueling operations the SS vessels provoked several collisions (at the least: SI once; BB twice, SmS once) with the NM. The BB collided with the supply tanker too.
2. There were no injuries to the crews of research vessels including NM and the supply tanker. However, the NM suffered denting damage and broken hand railing on her bow section while the supply tanker port side hull was dented and her hand railing was damaged. Both vessels’ ability for navigation was not affected by these damages.
3. During the attack, the NM used her water pump as a preventive measure to make SS vessels refrain from further approaching and repeatedly broadcasted a warning message to stop them. However, the NM decided to interrupt her refueling operations attempts judging from difficulty due to the extremely dangerous behavior of the SS vessels.....

 

Full media release here.

 

The Institute offers no video evidence of these collisions as they were occurring but does have one short clip showing the Nissin Maru bearing down on the SS Bob Barker. It has published some selective photographs of the collisons.

 

However, the Sea Shepherd organisation does have film and its videos call into doubt the Japanese version of events.

 

It is hard not to conclude that the Nissan Maru did not collide with, but instead deliberately rammed, Sea Shepherd vessels.

 

A conclusion made all the more disturbing by the fact that this ramming appears to have been sanctioned by the Government of Japan, as there is no evidence that the Japanese Coast Guard officer/s on board the Nissan Maru attempted to intervene with that ship’s captain when he embarked on this reckless course of action.

 

Sea Shepherd Australia videos:

 

http://youtu.be/e41c-ynA4Y4

 

 

http://youtu.be/4MrXiv4H1W0

 

 

http://youtu.be/ssw3xG1wH1s

Another ramming incident on 25 February 2013

http://youtu.be/KEVUEQ3SDyU

Did the Japanese whaling fleet pollute Antarctic waters?

 

http://youtu.be/8Iu8JbTQ8-c

 

Sea Shepherd 17 February 2013:

 

In the early hours of the 17th of February, while the SSS Sam Simon was tailing the South Korean owned Sun Laurel, fuel bunker ship to the Japanese whaling fleet, the Sam Simon crew noticed the smell of diesel fumes coming from the wake of the Sun Laurel, over one mile ahead.

Captain Luis Pinho radioed the Sun Laurel at 3:00 am AEDT, approximately 15 minutes after the Sun Laurelentered Australian Antarctic Territory, informing them that they smelled diesel fumes, could see fuel slicks in the wake of the Sun Laurel, had collected water samples, and would be reporting the Sun Laurel to the authorities.

On the 17th of February at approximately 4:00 pm AEDT the Sam Simon recorded an audio transmission between the Captain and Bosun of the Sun Laurel - the Japanese whaling fleet's refuelling vessel. In this recording, the Captain of the Sun Laurel refers to the oil spill that the Sam Simon had documented and collected samples of hours earlier. The Sun Laurel Captain informed his Bosun to take care covering refuelling hoses, and that if oil dropped into the water there would be a “big problem”, as the Sam Simon had caught the Sun Laurel leaking fuel into the wake behind them earlier that morning.

Sea Shepherd Australia believes this transmission is further proof of an oil spill by the Sun Laurel in Antarctica's pristine waters, and has reported the incident to Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

 

Japanese whaling fleet begins to withdraw from Antarctic waters

 

http://youtu.be/4MrXiv4H1W0

 

SBS World News 20 February 2012:

 

The latest spat between Japanese whalers and the Sea Shepherd group could become an international incident, amid reports Japan has temporarily suspended its whale hunt.

The ABC reports Japan has temporarily suspended its annual whale hunt in the Southern Ocean.

Yesterday, three Sea Shepherd ships were rammed by Japan's whaling fleet while it was attempting to refuel in Australian Antarctic Territory waters, the conservation group says.

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson says the Nisshin Maru has hit the Steve Irwin, the Bob Barker and the Sam Simon, which were attempting to stop the Japanese fleet "illegally" refuelling.

Captain Watson said the Nisshin Maru also collided with the Korean-owned tanker Sun Laurel, which appeared to be leaving the area.

The Bob Barker was badly damaged, taking water in its engine room and losing power, but is under way again, he said.

There were no injuries among its 38 crew.

"It's extremely irresponsible and reckless for them to be taking these kind of manoeuvres around an oil tanker, especially in the Antarctic treaty zone," Captain Watson told AAP.

"The Nisshin Maru just came in, bullied their way through, and hit the Steve Irwin twice on the stern ... and hit the Bob Barker multiple times, pushing it into the side of the tanker.

"It then continued to hit it with stun guns and water cannons and did severe damage."

Captain Watson said the Japanese ship backed off when a mayday call was issued but the Sam Simon had then been hit.

"We actually had the situation of the Japanese ship on their loudspeakers telling the Sam Simon to leave the Australian Antarctic Territory, that's an Australian flagged ship, and they said so by order of the government of Japan," Captain Watson said.

Japan's Insitiute of Cetacean Research version of events here.
Sea Shepherd (Australia) version of events here.

 

Everytime you go to the supermarket or bottle shop you can make a stand against the annual Antarctic whale slaughter

 

As the Government of Japan and the Japanese people appear unwilling to listen to the Government of Australia when it asks that the Japanese whaling fleet cease its Antarctic commercial whaling (cynically conducted under the guise of lethal research), perhaps it will listen to its own overseas business interests when they complain that Australian consumers are beginning to pass over their products.

 

It is easy to spot products imported directly from Japan, however that is not the true extent of the Japanese presence on supermarket and liquor store shelves.

 

If you would like to protest the ongoing Southern Ocean whale slaughter you can easily make your mark - here is a list of some Japanese-owned brands currently available:

 

Nippon Meat Packers Australia (NMPA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Meat Packers, Inc., a Japanese publicly listed company and a leader in the Japanese fresh meat, ham, sausage, and processed foods industries. Brands are: OAKEY ANGUS RESERVE, OAKEY RESERVE, CPB GRAIN FED, BORTHWICKS AUSTRALIA PREMIUM BEEF, WINGHAM BEEF EXPORTS, WINGHAM RESERVE, OAKEY ABATTOIR'S "BLUE" BRAND, OAKEY ABATTOIR'S, "OLIVE" BRAND, WINGHAM GOLD.

Lion Nathan National Foods a wholly owned subsidiary of Kirin Holdings Company Limited, a Japanese corporation specialising in beer, wine and dairy products. Brands are: XXXX GOLD, TOOHEYS NEW, JAMES BOAG’S PREMIUM, WITHER HILLS CHARDONNAY, ST HALLETT FAITH SHIRAZ, DAIRY FARMERS, YOPLAIT, COON, BERRI, DARE, FARMERS UNION, PURA, BIB M, MOOVE, TASMANIAN HERITAGE, and possibly KING ISLAND DAIRY.
 

Schweppes Australia a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Group Holdings Ltd of Japan. Brands: SCHWEPPES BRAND SOFT DRINKS & MIXERS, SOLO, SPRING VALLEY, COTTEE'S CORDIALS, COOL RIDGE SPRING WATER, EXTRA JUICY, POP TOPS, GLO, FRANTELLE, PEPSI, MOUNTAIN DEW (under licence), GATORADE (under licence).

 

Independent Distillers a subsidiary owned by Asahi Group Holdings of Japan. Brands: ASAHAI BEER, WOODSTOCK BOURBON, WOODSTOCK BOURBON & COLA, PULSE, HIGHLAND SCOTCH WHISKY, RED BEER, CS COWBOY, VODKA MUDSHAKE, VODKA CRUISER, CRUISER BLACK, CRUISER FREE, CRUISER APPARELLA, LADY LUCK, EVERGLADES, TWISTEE SHOTS, HUMMINGBIRD BLONDE LAGER,KINGKISHER BEER, BALTIKA BEER, HAAGEN PREMUIM MALT.

An armed Japanese Government customs vessel entered Australia's exclusive economic zone without permission on 31 January 2013

Shonan Maru no 2

ABC News February 1, 2013:

 

The Federal Government has ordered a Japanese whaling vessel to get out of Australia's exclusive economic zone.

The Shonan Maru Number 2 - a Customs vessel which travels with the whaling fleet - entered the zone off Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean yesterday afternoon.

Environment Minister Tony Burke said he had made it clear to Japan that vessels associated with the whaling program "are not welcome in in Australia's exclusive economic zone or territorial sea".

"Our embassy in Tokyo has conveyed these sentiments directly to the Japanese government," Mr Burke said in a statement.

Former Greens leader Bob Brown, now the mission leader of the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling group, says he believes the vessel has armed Japanese personnel aboard.

 

On February 1 it was reported that the customs vessel was just outside of Australian territorial waters, but remains in Australia’s economic exclusion zone close to Macquarie Island, in direct defiance of the objections contained in the Australian Government’s formal notification to the Japanese Government.

 

World Heritage listed Macquarie Island forms part of the State of Tasmania.

 

The Hon Tony Burke MP

Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

 

Japanese whaling vessels nearing Macquarie Island

 

Media release
31 January 2013

 

The Australian Government has received confirmation that a Japanese whaling support vessel, the Shonan Maru No 2, has entered our exclusive economic zone near Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean.

The Government strongly objects to whaling vessels passing through Australian territorial seas or our exclusive economic zone.

Australia has made it clear to Japan on a number of occasions that vessels associated with its whaling program are not welcome in Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or Territorial Sea.

The vessel is a non-whaling support ship which forms part of the fleet accompanying whaling vessels.

Our embassy in Tokyo has conveyed these sentiments directly to the Japanese government.

"Operation Zero Tolerance'' underway in the Southern Ocean

Website banner for 2013 in the Antarctic whale wars

 

With the Japanese Government sponsored whaling fleet reported to be heading towards its designated Antarctic killing zones (which includes the 50 million square kilometre Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary established by the International Whaling Commission), the 2013 battle in the whale wars is now underway.

 

Japan is said to have a kill target of 935 minke whales and up to 50 endangered fin whales this season under the guise of industrial scale lethal 'research'.

 

http://www.wwf.org.au/

 

Japan squander's 2.3bn yen from tsunami recontructions funds on Antarctic & Pacific whale hunts

The Times UK November 1, 2012:

The Japanese Government has spent taxpayers’ money intended for the reconstruction of areas devastated by last year’s tsunami on a range of irrelevant projects, including spades for jailed criminals, training for air force fighter pilots and funding for a whale hunt.

About a quarter of the 11.7 trillion yen (£91 billion) set aside to restore the ravaged north east has been spent on programmes unrelated to the disaster, according to analysis of the Government’s own audit report.

BBC New Asia October 31:

Japan has spent funds intended for reconstruction after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami on unrelated projects, a government audit has found.

Projects financed by the $150bn (£93bn) fund include roads in Okinawa, an ad campaign for Japan's tallest building and support for whaling research.

Some 325,000 people remain displaced 18 months on from the disaster.

In some areas little reconstruction work has been carried out, reports say.

The Australian November 2:

2.3bn yen or approximately AUD$2.7 million went to Japan's fisheries agencies to protect its whaling fleet from protests by environmental activists.

Japanese Fisheries Agency denies November-March Antarctic whale hunt cancelled

Wednesday September 26th, 2012



Well, it only took a few hours from when the Japanese newspaper report was released, but the Japanese Fisheries Agency has said despite the need for its main ship, the Nisshin Maru, to be overhauled, this year’s whale hunt will continue. Not only will the Southern Ocean hunt not be called off this year, as was originally thought this morning, but the 8,000-ton ship’s refitting will allow Japan to get another decade’s worth of service from it. I can hear Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd starting their boats’ engines now….

Whale Meat FAIL

ABC News June 13 2012:

Japan's whaling research body has failed to sell the bulk of meat harvested from its last round of what it calls research whaling, despite inviting bids months ago.

A report released by Japan's Dolphin and Whale Action Network reveals there have been 13 rounds of public auctions for the whale meat, but 900 tonnes of it has failed to sell.

That is three-quarters of all the meat harvested from the last round of so-called scientific research whaling in the north-west Pacific.

The meat sales are supposed to help cover the cost of the whaling fleet.

Japanese taxpayers have been subsidising the fleet for years because few people eat the meat, complaining it does not taste good

Whale meat photograph from Google Images

Antarctic: When is the Government of Japan going to get its priorities straight?

Photograph from Hervey Bay Tourist Centre

When is the Government of Japan going to get its priorities straight?  Hopefully before 2013. Its state-sponsored whale killers must be must be near a financial bottom of the ocean by now.

News.com.au March 9, 2012:

JAPAN has ended this season's whale hunt in the Antarctic Ocean having caught less than a third of its original target, the Fisheries Agency says.

Japanese whalers killed 266 minke whales and one fin whale, the agency said, well below the roughly 900 they had been aiming for when they left Japan in December.

The West Australian March 9, 2012:

The Japanese whaling fleet has pulled out of the Southern Ocean and is heading home three weeks before the whale hunt was scheduled to end.
The Japanese consul in Perth and the Institute of Cetacean Research have both confirmed the whalers are heading back to Japan.

Japanese whalers receive setback in U.S. Court

FRESNOBEE7: AP - In this photo taken on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012 and released by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the Japanese whaling vessel Yushin Maru No. 2 shoots its water cannons at the Sea Shepherd crew on a inflatable boat during an encounter by the whalers and anti-whaling activists in the Antarctic Sea. (AP Photo/Sea Shepherd, Billy Danger

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

The Institute of Cetacean Research / Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha

17 February 2012

Joint Statement on Court ruling by the U.S. District Court

The Institute of Cetacean Research and Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd. are disappointed that the Court did not award a Preliminary Injunction that would prevent Sea Shepherd from physically attacking their vessels during the current research season.

The Institute of Cetacean Research and Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd. will study the details of the ruling once it is issued. The court has not yet issued a ruling on Sea Shepherd’s motion to have the case dismissed.

The Institute of Cetacean Research and Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd. are now evaluating their options to ensure safety at sea in the future.

For more information contact: Gavin Carter, Washington, DC: +1-571-243-6030

Is the Japanese whaling fleet refusing to obey a lawful direction to leave Australian territorial waters?

Since at least 11 January 2012 the Government of Japan-sponsored whaling fleet operating in the Southern Ocean has failed to obey a lawful direction of the Federal Government to quit Australian territorial waters surrounding World Heritage listed Macquarie Island - which also form part of the Australian Whale Sanctuary and the wider International Whaling Commission-endorsed Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

One has to wonder why the Japanese Government imagines it has a right to ignore Australia's sovereignty in this manner.

Should it continue this intransigence then the Federal Government would be well within its rights to withdraw the credentials of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan, His Excellency Mr Shigekazu Sato.

The Australian Whale Sanctuary has been established to protect
all whales and dolphins found in Australian waters

The Sydney Morning Herald 12 January 2012:

A JAPANESE whaling ship has defied high-level Australian complaints to stay in the waters of World Heritage-listed Macquarie Island.

The harpoon-equipped whale hunter Yushin Maru No.3 was still there late yesterday, hours after the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said the ship was leaving.

''I'm aware that there has been one vessel which I'm advised has been in Australian territorial waters and I'll advise that it will leave Australian territorial waters,'' Ms Gillard said.

The Australian embassy told the Japanese government on Tuesday that whaling vessels were not welcome in the country's waters, repeating earlier complaints.

But the Japanese ship was photographed yesterday within a few miles of the coast of Macquarie Island, which is part of the state of Tasmania……

ANU professor of international law Don Rothwell said if Yushin Maru No.3 was staying close to Macquarie Island it was violating the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea which would normally allow a ship to proceed though these waters.

''The actions of Yushin Maru No.3 are not consistent with the right of innocent passage,'' Professor Rothwell said.

The Greens leader, Bob Brown, said the ship's presence was illegal and called for a naval vessel to be sent there.

Yushin Maru No.3 stayed just off the coast of Macquarie Island yesterday.

Photo: Carolina A Castro/Sea Shepherd

A reminder of the 2008 Federal Court of Australia ruling against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY NSD 1519 OF 2004

BETWEEN: HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL INC

Applicant

AND: KYODO SENPAKU KAISHA LTD

Respondent

JUDGE: ALLSOP J

DATE OF ORDER: 15 JANUARY 2008

WHERE MADE: SYDNEY

1. THE COURT DECLARES that the respondent has killed, injured, taken and interfered with Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and injured, taken and interfered with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in contravention of sections 229, 229A, 229B and 229C of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), (the “Act”), and has treated and possessed such whales killed or taken in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in contravention of sections 229D and 230 of the Act, without permission or authorisation under sections 231, 232 or 238 of the Act.

2. THE COURT ORDERS that the respondent be restrained from killing, injuring, taking or interfering with any Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis), fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) or humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, or treating or possessing any such whale killed or taken in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, unless permitted or authorised under sections 231,n232 or 238 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth).

Note: Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36 of the Federal Court Rules.

Reasons for Judgement

Ramifications of Judgement

Whale Wars 2012: Sea Shepherd alleges Japanese whaler Yushin Maru 3 has entered Australian territorial waters

The Sydney Morning Herald
Whalers chase activist ship into Australian waters: Sea Shepherd
9 January 2012

Sea Shepherd Organisation on 9 January 2012:

The Yushin Maru #3 is presently (at 1400 Hours AEST) 5 nautical miles off the beach at MacQuarie Island. The Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker was attempting to shake the tail of the Yushin Maru #3 at MacQuarie. According to a 2008 order of the Australian Federal Court, Japanese whaling vessels are prohibited from entering the territorial waters of Australia.

 * Macquarie Island: a Tasmanian State Reserve managed by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service.

UPDATE

From The Age online 11 January 2012:

THE Gillard government has complained to Japan after a whaling vessel went deep into Australian territorial waters in pursuit of a protest vessel.
Hours after Japan said yesterday it would release three Australian protesters who illegally boarded a whaling security ship, it emerged that another vessel of the Japanese fleet went as close as four nautical miles to Tasmania's Macquarie Island in pursuit of the activists' long-range ship Bob Barker.
This brought the Japanese ship, the whale catcher Yushin Maru No. 3, inside Australia's 12 nautical mile territorial limit, where domestic laws ban whaling.
A spokesman for Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said the government had complained to Japan about the incursion.
''We have asked our embassy [in Tokyo] today to reiterate to the Japanese government that whaling vessels are not welcome in Australian territorial waters,'' the spokesman said.