Japan has argued that whaling is an important part of the country's traditions.
Top Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Tokyo's withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission, which bans commercial whaling, will allow fishermen to "pass our country's rich whaling culture on to the next generation."
But for Mark Simmonds – a senior marine scientist at Humane Society International – Japan's argument is weak.
"If we look at modern whaling practices, the kind of whaling that Japan is attempting to defend – off-shore whaling, big vessels, factory vessels out at sea – there's nothing very much that looks very traditional about that," Simmonds told CGTN's Asia Today.
Japan has also been calling such operations for decades as scientific whaling. But Simmonds says it can't be both for research purposes and as part of tradition.
According to the marine scientist, some whale populations have started to recover following the moratorium on commercial whaling adopted in 1982. But he added Japan's move deals a considerable blow to conservation efforts.
"What we need is more collaboration and more cooperation, and not countries stepping away because of their own interests," he says.
As of 2013, the IWC has 88 member countries. And the participation is not limited to states involved in whaling operations.
Some of these anti-whaling countries have also voiced concerns over Japan's move.
A minke whale is unloaded at Kushiro port as a Japanese government-authorized research institute began its semi-annual whaling campaign off the coast of Hokkaido on September 9, 2005. /VCG Photo
Japan's withdrawal from IWC draws mixed reactions
Japan has drawn flak from anti-whaling countries after the announcement it was withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission.
Brazil called Tokyo's decision a "great regression" and that it disregards the stance of the majority of countries.
Australia said it was regrettable and urged Tokyo to reconsider.
New Zealand said that whaling is an outdated and unnecessary practice, and it hopes that Japan will cease all whaling to protect ocean ecosystems. It's also urging Tokyo to stay in the IWC.
Japan's withdrawal from the organization will take effect next June 30, clearing the way to restart commercial whaling in July.
Top Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the hunts would be limited to Japan's territorial waters and Japanese whaling ships would no longer go to the Antarctic.
A minke whale is displayed in Kushiro, Hokkaido, after being caught in what Japan calls a scientific research on September 11, 2006. /VCG Photo
Conservationist groups weigh in
Greenpeace has condemned the announcement as being out of step with the international community while the Humane Society International has labeled Japan as "pirate whalers."
"The rest of the world has moved on, the vast majority of countries in the world want to watch whales, make money from whale watching, to protect them from the other threats they face. It's only a matter of time we think until Japan catches up with that public opinion," says the animal advocacy group's executive director Claire Bass.
But the Sea Shepherd conservation group, on the other hand, says the end of whale hunting in the Southern Ocean is a cause for celebration.
The society has fought to stop hunting in the Antarctic Southern Ocean for 13 years.
However, the group believes that Japan's departure from the IWC could lead to the formation of a new whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic Ocean.
“There's a very real chance, almost certain, that we'll now have an Atlantic whale sanctuary. So we're going to have the whole Southern Hemisphere will be a protected area for whales – and that's got to be great news for the whales of the world,” Michael Lawry explains. He's the managing director of Sea Shepherd New Zealand.
A minke whale is unloaded at Kushiro port as a Japanese government-authorized research institute began its semi-annual whaling campaign off the coast of Hokkaido on September 9, 2005. /VCG Photo
Threatening the endangered
But while the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society does welcome Japan's decision to end whaling operations in the Antarctic, it's worried Tokyo could target quite endangered species like bluefin and sei whales.
Tokyo has been regularly criticized for catching hundreds of whales a year for what they call scientific research, despite being a signatory to the 1982 moratorium on hunting the animals.
According to the Environmental Investigation Agency, Japan, Norway and Iceland have killed nearly 40,000 whales since the moratorium took effect.
More than half of that number are by Japan alone.
Among the species most frequently hunted is the endangered sei whale.
On average, Japan catches about 50 of these annually.
The crew of a Japanese whaling vessel drag an injured whale to the side of the ship in what Japan calls a scientific research mission in the Antarctic, 1993. /VCG Photo
To highlight how their numbers have fallen – there were said to be about 80,000 sei whales in the world's oceans about ten years ago, that's less than a third of the pre-whaling number.
Also listed as most endangered are the North Atlantic and North Pacific right whales.
(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, contact us at opinions@cgtn.com)
Script written by CGTN's Chuck Tinte