Japanese whaling within Australian waters in Antarctica is illegal and should be stopped, a court ruled on Tuesday.
It is now up to the Australian government to decide whether to enforce the injunction. And even then it is unclear whether the ruling could be enforced as unless the whaling vessels enter Australia, 鈥渢here is no practical mechanism by which orders of this court can be enforced鈥� conceded Federal Court judge Jim Allsop.
The , which protects all whales and dolphins in Australian waters, was proclaimed in 2000.
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These waters include a 200-mile wide stretch adjacent to Australia鈥檚 Antarctic territory, in which more than 1300 whales were killed by Japanese company Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha between 2000 and 2006, estimates .
HSI launched the court action against the company, which killed the whales as part of Japan鈥檚 annual 鈥渟cientific鈥� whaling programme, in November 2004.
Australia鈥檚 new Labor government, which has voiced support for HSI鈥檚 action, has not yet said whether it will enforce the ban. Robert McClelland, the attorney general, says that a request for whaling to be halted in the sanctuary must now be made to the Japanese government by HSI, and that the Australian government will assist HSI in doing so.
Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha has a permit to kill 935 minke and 50 fin whales in Antarctica this season, and HSI estimates that 90% of these would be killed within the Australian Whale Sanctuary.
鈥淲e are now calling upon the government to enforce the injunction immediately,鈥� says HSI spokeswoman Nicola Beynon in Sydney.
