INTERVIEW - Japan to push for lifting of whaling ban
Date: 13-Mar-02
Country: JAPAN
Author: Elaine Lies
Japan and fellow whaler Norway have long pushed for the resumption of commercial whaling, but the always touchy issue is likely to be especially contentious this year because Japan recently said it would expand its research whaling programme.
"At the meeting, we want to aim for the resumption of commercial whaling," Masayuki Komatsu, a counsellor for Japan's Fisheries Agency, told Reuters.
"There are so many whales," said Komatsu, who won notoriety last year when he referred to minke whales as "the cockroaches of the ocean."
"For the IWC not to recognise whaling now is unscientific and a violation of its convention, and I believe there is a need to correct this speedily," Komatsu said.
Tokyo, which abandoned commercial whaling in 1986 to comply with an IWC moratorium, has roused international ire by carrying out what it calls scientific research whaling since 1987.
Two weeks ago Japan angered conservationists when it said it would catch sei whales, said by conservationists to be endangered, as part of its research whaling programme this year.
Under a proposal submitted to the IWC for approval, Japan's research fleet in the Northwest Pacific plans to catch 150 minke whales, a rise of 50 from last year. It also plans to catch 50 Bryde's whales, 50 sei whales, and 10 sperm whales.
It also takes some 400 minke whales in Antarctica each year.
However, the chances of actually lifting the moratorium anytime soon are slim, much less at the IWC meeting to be held at Shimonoseki, in southwestern Japan, in May.
Japan has broached the issue to the IWC numerous times in the past, but it has always been voted down.
A three-quarters majority of the 42 IWC members would have to vote in favour of lifting the ban for that to happen.
Komatsu said about 20 nations remain staunchly anti-whaling - although 15 to 16 have sided with Japan on pro-whaling issues in recent years, compared with five or so around a decade ago.
Komatsu also said that pro-whaling nations could pick up additional support should Iceland be able to vote this year.
Iceland applied to rejoin the IWC last year after quitting a decade ago, but its insistance on being able to resume commercial whaling set off fierce debate that resulted in it being given observer status rather than full voting membership.
GOURMET FOOD
Whale meat was an important source of protein in an impoverished Japan after World War Two, but it has become a gourmet food over the last few decades as prices rose in line with falling supply and it is no longer widely eaten.
Komatsu reiterated Japan's view that it does not make sense for non-whaling nations to protest against catching minke whales, whose population is estimated at one million worldwide.
"There are many minke whales," he said. "Plenty of them."
Japan has also argued that whales are consuming vast amounts of fish, leading to a worldwide drop in fisheries production.
Japan's fish landings have been halved to six million tonnes in about the last 20 years.
"We need to know what the impact of whales is on Japan's fisheries," Komatsu said. "That's why we added the sei whales."
Environmentalists, though, have long argued that the drop in fisheries take is the result of overfishing around the world and that whales have little to do with declining fish landings.
In another controversial move, Japan said last week it was in talks with Norway about importing whale meat after an 11-year hiatus. Japanese media said imports could start as early as May.
Komatsu said progress was being made on measures needed to resume imports, including setting up a DNA database to prevent smuggling and a system to ensure the meat was safe to eat. "Once we've cleared that up, the government will give its final approval. But this is likely to be after May."
The IWC's scientific committee will meet from April 25 to May 9, while its annual meeting will be from May 20 to May 24.