November 11th, 2009. The civil society of Latin American expressed its concern about the resumption of the so-called scientific whaling in waters of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary that will be conducted starting next December under the Japanese Research Whaling Program in Antarctica (JARPA II). Forty NGOs of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, along with some international organizations working in Latin America, signed a letter which was simultaneously sent to the Commissioners of the Buenos Aires Group, calling their governments for the implementation of diplomatic actions against the killing of whales under scientific purposes.

The organizations claim that "from the beginning of the negotiation process to define the future of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the Government of Japan has not provided any evidence that they will stop or at least significantly reduce the so-called "scientific whaling” operations… this situation continues to generate a climate of polarization and distrust that delays advancement of the process and undermines the capacity of the IWC to reach agreements that represent the current interests of conservation and use of cetacean populations”.

They also mentioned that since 2006, when the JARPA II program began, the annual whaling quota for the Antarctic minke whale reached levels that are similar to those of commercial whaling before the implementation of the moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986.

In addition to the damage that this whaling operations cause to whale populations and the Antarctic ecosystem as a whole, there is evidence that the "scientific whaling" conducted by Japan is not economically viable and it is largely aided by government subsidies. In connection with this, the spending review committee established by Japan's new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, recommended that funding for the Institute of Cetacean Research, which conducts the whaling program in Japan, be cancelled. The final decision will be made by this committee and the Cabinet Office, and if it is the case, funding for whaling would be cancelled from 2010. 

Sources:
Fundación Cethus
CCC (Centro de Conservación Cetácea)
ENS (Environmental News Service)