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SYDNEY - The Federal Court has ordered a Japanese whaling company to stop killing whales in Australian Antarctic waters.
The Humane Society International (HSI) launched legal action against whaler Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd in 2004, seeking a Federal Court injunction against harvesting in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in Antarctic waters.
HSI claims the company has slaughtered 1,253 minke whales and nine fin whales since the sanctuary was declared in 2000, in breach of Australian domestic law protecting the animals.
Justice Jim Allsop today said unless restrained, the Japanese company would continue to "kill, injure, take and interfere with" Antarctic minke whales and fin whales.
He also said the company had targeted humpback whales in the Australian whale sanctuary in contravention of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
- AAP
