By providing Japan with the opportunity to save face and make an orderly withdrawal from drift-net fishing, the UN Second Committee bound them into a commitment to cease drift-net operations in the near future — an astonishing achievement for a campaign which had only really gathered momentum 10 months earlier, with the sinking of the Sankichi Maru.
By providing Japan with the opportunity to regain some favorable standing after an embarrassment and make an orderly withdrawal from drift-net fishing, the UN Second Committee bound them into a commitment to cease drift-net operations in the near future — an astonishing achievement for a campaign which had only really gathered momentum 10 months earlier, with the sinking of the Sankichi Maru.