C. W. Nicol who was a sympathizer to Japan's whaling industries) or domestic medias that have done reporting assignments in Japan had been discriminated. Some of these including former fishermen who were ostracized in their communities later became whale-watching operators. Several other tours have been operated by former whalers or dolphin hunters such as at Abashiri, Muroto, and so on. Scientific research Scientific whaling is accepted under the Article VIII of the convention of IWC. The Article VIII claims that each member nation can grant its nationals a permit to take or kill whales for scientific purposes. Dissimilar from the international regulations on commercial and aboriginal whaling, the scientific researches and the number of whales killed for scientific purposes are unilateral. Although the Scientific Committee (SC) of the IWC attempted to provide expert assessment of national research plans, the nations carrying out scientific whaling, especially Japan, still use scientific whaling as an alibi for their excess in whaling. After halting its commercial whaling in 1986, Japan began scientific research hunts to provide a basis for the resumption of sustainable whaling. According to environmental groups and the Australian Environment Minister, the ostensible research serves to disguise commercial whaling in circumvention of the IWC moratorium. The IWC Scientific Committee collects up-to-date data on catch limits and catches taken since 1985. Numbers have ranged from less than 200 in 1985 to close to 1,000 in 2007. The research is conducted by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), a privately owned, non-profit institution. The institute receives its funding from government subsidies and Kyodo Senpaku, which handles processing and marketing of the whale meat. Japan carried out its "scientific" whaling in two areas: the North-West Pacific Ocean (JARPN II) and the Antarctic Ocean (JARPA) Southern Hemisphere catch. The 2007/08 JARPA mission had a self-imposed quota of 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales. On March 31, 2014, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stated its decision (by 12–4 votes) that Japan's whaling program was not for scientific purposes. The Court ordered that "Japan revoke any extant authorization, permit or licence to kill, take or treat whales" and refrain from granting any further permits. Catches JARPA The JARPA research program took place near Antarctica from 1988 to 2005. Its stated objectives were to determine mortality rates, whale stock numbers and structure, the role of whales in the Antarctic ecosystem and how environmental changes affect whales. The