The World - News from Feb. 11, 1988

The United States declared that Japan is harming international whaling agreements and imposed a largely symbolic cut of 50% in Japan’s permitted fish catch--already zero for this year--in U.S. waters. Commerce Secretary C. William Verity signed the declaration after Japan informed him that one of its whaling factory ships had taken some minke whales in the Antarctic. Japan said the whales were taken as part of a research program involving the catch of 300 minke whales this year. The International Whaling Commission, which has banned commercial whaling until 1990, refused to approve Japan’s research.