Despite a moratorium on commercial whaling imposed by the International Whaling Commission, of which Japan is a member, Japanese ships continue to kill hundreds of whales every year for the stated purpose of government-sanctioned scientific research, while the resulting whale products are sold commercially. The killing of whales for scientific research is permitted under IWC rules. The Australian government initiated a legal challenge last week against Japanese scientific whaling in the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Question: Does the international community have an obligation to curb the Japanese practice of large scale whaling?