and rejected a proposal by Japan to renew commercial whaling. Through the "Florianopolis Declaration", it was concluded that the purpose of the IWC is the conservation of whales and that they would now safeguard the marine mammals in perpetuity and would allow the recovery of all whale populations to pre-industrial whaling levels. The non-binding agreement was backed by 40 countries, with 27 pro-whaling states voting against. Under this resolution, limited hunts by some indigenous communities are still permitted. On December 26, 2018, Japan announced that since the IWC failed its duty to promote sustainable hunting, which is one of its stated goals, Japan is withdrawing its membership and will resume commercial hunting in its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone from July 1, 2019, but will cease whaling activities in the Antarctic Ocean. While the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was cautious against leaving the IWC, the move was spearheaded by Toshihiro Nikai, a member of the Japanese National Diet and current secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party. Nikai's electorate includes the town of Taiji, Wakayama. On July 1, 2019, two minke whales, the first catch after the resumption of commercial whaling were unloaded at Kushiro port in Hokkaido. Production Until 2018, Japanese whaling was conducted in both pelagic (open-ocean) areas in the North Pacific Ocean and the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. Coastal waters are also utilized for small-type coastal whaling of dolphins and other small cetaceans. Large and small whales are sometimes taken as bycatch in the nets of Japanese fishing vessels as well. Pelagic whaling Japan's pelagic whaling fleet, which annually hunts large whales in the Southern Ocean, consists of a number of ships for hunting and processing whale catch as well as securing the hunt against protests. During the 2009–10 season, the Japanese fleet included a factory ship, four whale catchers and two security patrol vessels. The Japanese self-imposed quota includes 935 minke, 50 fin and 50 humpback whales per season. When whales are spotted the whale catchers will engage in pursuit. A harpoon cannon with a grenade tipped harpoon is fired at the target whale. A rope is trailed from the harpoon in order to prevent the whale from being lost. If the whale is struck and not killed instantly by the explosive tipped harpoon, a second harpoon may be used or the whale may be shot with a rifle until dead. A past method