Japan OKs agreement to end sperm whale hunting in '88
| Tokyo
Japan officially accepted an agreement with the United States Tuesday to end the hunting of sperm whales in 1988, a foreign ministry official said. In accordance with a recent US-Japan compromise worked out in Washington, the Japanese government decided to withdraw its objection to a ban on sperm whaling by the International Whaling Commission, he said.
The decision allows Japan to catch 400 sperm whales in the North Pacific in both the 1984 and '85 whaling seasons despite an American law providing for a 50 percent cut in fishing privileges in US waters for nations that do not abide by IWC decisions.
