Is Japanese commercial whaling compatible with international law?

The recent arrest in Greenland of Sea Shepherd activist Paul Watson, and his possible extradition to Japan, has raised questions about the global rules for commercial whaling – a practice officially banned in 1986. International efforts to regulate whaling began almost 100 years ago in Geneva, with a 1931 convention at the League of Nations. Almost a century later, the issue is still heated: on August 6 some 40 demonstrators turned up in front of the United Nations building in the Swiss city, brandishing banners and shouting “Free Paul Watson” – in reference to the Canadian-American ecological activist currently in custody in Greenland while Danish authorities examine an extradition request by Japan. Watson, the 73-year-old figurehead of the Sea Shepherd group and a co-founder of Greenpeace, was arrested in Nuuk on July 21 after docking to refuel; he was on his way to chase down a Japanese whaler in the North Pacific. An international arrest warrant issued by Tokyo in 2012 accuses ...