 This moratorium came into effect in 1985 and is a ban that remains in place today.Representatives from AMCS attend the IWC every two years and work with other NGOs such as International Fund for Animal Welfare and Humane Society International for anti-whaling, pro-conservation outcomes.Despite a global ban on commercial whaling, Japan found a loophole and continued to hunt whales under the guise of "scientific purposes" in the Southern Ocean.