爲捕鯨要“退羣”？日本或退出國際捕鯨委員會大綱

提到捕鯨，不免首先要想到日本。然而最近日本宣佈，爲了重啓商業捕鯨，或將退出國際捕鯨委員會，允許捕鯨船在附近海域和專屬經濟區捕鯨。這真堪稱是鯨魚們的大災難。

日本要“退羣“？

Japan will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in a bid to resume commercial whaling, Kyodo News reported on Thursday, citing government sources.

據日本共同社本週四報道，日本政府相關消息人士透露，日本將退出國際捕鯨委員會，以重啓商業捕鯨。

commercial whaling: 商業捕鯨

Japan’s withdrawal from the IWC is planned for 2019 and will be announced by the end of this year, according to the report.

報道稱，日本將在明年退出國際捕鯨委員會，這一決定將在年底公佈。

Kyodo quoted unnamed government sources as saying Japan would abandon its controversial, and expensive, expeditions to the Southern Ocean and instead permit whaling fleets to operate in its coastal waters and exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

日本共同社援引政府消息人士的話說，日本將放棄在南極海域開展的頗具爭議且費用高昂的捕鯨，而是允許捕鯨船在日本附近海域和專屬經濟區進行商業捕鯨。

A fisheries agency official denied the report, however, insisting no decision had been taken on whether to withdraw from the IWC, which banned commercial whaling in 1986.

但日本漁業部門的一位官員否認了這一報道，堅稱還沒有最終決定是否退出國際捕鯨委員會。國際捕鯨委員會從1986年開始禁止商業捕鯨。

“Japan’s official position, that we want to resume commercial whaling as soon as possible, has not changed,” the official told the Guardian. “But reports that we will leave the IWC are incorrect.”

這位官員告訴《衛報》說：“日本想要儘快恢復商業捕鯨這一官方立場沒有改變。但有報道說我們將退出國際捕鯨委員會是不正確的。”

Australia’s environment minister, Melissa Price, said it remained opposed to “all forms of commercial and so-called ‘scientific whaling’”, adding: “While we would strongly prefer Japan to remain a party to the convention and a member of the commission, the decision to withdraw is a matter for Japan.”

澳大利亞環境部長梅麗莎-普萊斯說，澳大利亞仍然反對“所有形式的商業捕鯨，或所謂的‘科研捕鯨’”。她補充說：“儘管我們強烈支持日本留在國際捕鯨委員會，但是否退出是日本自己的決定。”

Agence France-Presse quoted an official as saying the agency was “considering all options”, including the possible withdrawal from the 89-member commission. A foreign ministry official confirmed “all options are on the table but nothing formal has been decided yet”.

法新社援引日本一位官員的話說，漁業部門正在“考慮各種選擇”，包括可能退出有89名成員的國際捕鯨委員會。日本外務省一位官員確認說：“我們正討論所有的選擇，但還沒有正式決定。”

招致國際社會譴責

二戰後日本幾乎沒有退出國際組織的先例，上述舉措實屬罕見。遭到國際社會輕視規則的指責將在所難免。

Darren Kindleysides, chief executive of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said: “Leaving the IWC would set a very dangerous precedent for other international treaties and conventions. ”

澳大利亞海洋保護協會首席執行官達倫-金德利塞茲說：“日本退出國際鯨魚委員會會給其他國際條約或公約開一個非常危險的先例。”

precedent['presɪd(ə)nt]: n.先例；前例

"The IWC has become the driving force for global whale conservation efforts in the 21st century. If Japan is serious about the future of the world’s whales, they would not leave the IWC.”

他說：“國際鯨魚委員會已經成爲21世紀全球鯨魚保護的一股重要力量。如果日本認真考慮全球鯨魚的未來的話，就不會退出委員會。”

新西蘭鯨類和海豚信託基金代表利茨·斯洛滕說，如果日本退出，可能在國際捕鯨委員會引發嚴重後果：一些國家或許會效仿，這一國際組織可能分裂。

日本爲何要退出？

據日本共同社報道稱，若今後留在國際捕鯨委員會，重啓商業捕鯨的希望極其渺茫，因此日本政府提及退出的可能性，而實現明年退出的通知期限爲明年1月1日，現已臨近。

Japan has previously threatened to quit the IWC, arguing that the moratorium was supposed to be a temporary measure and accusing the IWC of abandoning its original purpose – managing the sustainable use of global whale stocks.

日本之前就曾威脅退出國際捕鯨委員會，辯稱暫停捕鯨只是一種臨時措施，並指責國際捕鯨委員會已經背離了初衷，即管理全球鯨魚資源的可持續利用。

moratorium[,mɒrə'tɔːrɪəm] : n.暫停，中止

Japanese officials claim that populations of certain types of whale – such as the minke – have recovered sufficiently to allow the resumption of “sustainable” hunting.

日本官員聲稱，某些種類的鯨魚（如小鬚鯨）的數量已經恢復到足夠多，可以允許“可持續性的”捕鯨活動。

Japan has long maintained that most whale species are not endangered and that eating whale is a cherished part of its food culture.

日本一直認爲，大多數的鯨魚種羣並不瀕危，而且吃鯨魚肉是其飲食文化中寶貴的一部分。

At September’s IWC meeting in Florianópolis, Brazil, anti-whaling nations led by Australia, the European Union and the US voted down a Japanese proposal to change the decision-making process – a move that would have made it easier for Japan to secure enough votes to end the commercial whaling ban.

今年9月，在巴西佛羅利亞諾波利斯市舉行的國際捕鯨委員會會議上，以澳大利亞、歐盟和美國爲首的反對捕鯨的成員否決了日本提交的改變決策程序的提議。按照這一提議，日本能更容易地得到足夠多的投票支持，以取消商業捕鯨禁令。

The defeat prompted Japan’s IWC commissioner, Joji Morishita, to warn that the country’s differences with anti-whaling nations were “very clear” and that it would plan its “next step”.

這次失敗促使日本的國際捕鯨委員會代表森下丈二警告說，日本與反捕鯨國家的分歧“非常明顯”，將計劃採取“下一步行動”。

澳大利亞2008年2月7日公佈的這張照片顯示，一艘日本捕鯨船將獵殺的一頭母鯨和一頭幼鯨拖進船艙。 新華社發

Japan has been able to use a clause in the IWC moratorium allowing it to conduct “research” hunts every year and to sell whale meat on the open market, although consumption has plummeted in recent decades.

日本利用國際捕鯨委員會的一項條款，每年進行“科研”捕鯨活動，並在公開市場出售鯨魚肉，不過近幾十年來此類消費下滑很多。

Japan faced criticism earlier this year after reporting that its whaling fleet had killed 122 pregnant whales during its annual research hunt in the Southern Ocean last winter. Of the 333 minke whales caught during the four-month expedition, 181 were female – including 53 juveniles.

去年冬天，日本的捕鯨船在南極海域開展每年的科研捕鯨活動時，獵殺了122頭懷孕鯨魚，這在今年早些時候招致批評。這次科研捕鯨活動爲期四個月，在捕獲的333頭小鬚鯨中，181頭是雌性鯨魚，其中還包括53頭幼鯨。

In 2014, the international court of justice ordered Japan to halt its annual hunts in the Southern Ocean after concluding that they were not, as Japanese officials had claimed, conducted for scientific research.

2014年，海牙國際法庭要求日本停止每年在南極海域進行的捕鯨，此前日本政府宣稱在南極捕鯨的目的是用於科研，但法庭否認了這一點。

But Japan resumed whaling in the region two years later under a revamped program that included reducing its catch quota by about two-thirds.

但兩年後，日本新出臺了計劃，將每年在南極海域的捕鯨數量減少三分之二，並恢復了捕鯨活動。

Japan would join Iceland and Norway in openly defying the ban on commercial whale hunting.

另外兩個公開違抗商業捕鯨禁令的國家是冰島和挪威。