Japan whaling ships defy critics, set out on hunt
Date: 11-May-01
Country: JAPAN
Author: Elaine Lies
This foray, however, is likely to be more controversial and could spark protests from the United States, as it targets Bryde's and sperm whales - both of which are protected under U.S. law - in addition to the more common minke whales.
A similar hunt last year angered Washington and brought the threat of sanctions and a move by then-President Bill Clinton to possibly deny Japan future access to fishing rights in U.S. waters.
"We plan to take up to 160 whales, which is the limit," said an official at Japan's Fisheries Agency. "This will include Bryde's and sperm whales as well as minkes."
Two ships set sail from the port of Shimonoseki for waters in the northern Pacific as part of a five-ship fleet. Another ship left from the northern port of Shiogama, while two other ships will depart by May 15. They will return by late July.
Last month a whaling fleet returned from a five-month hunt in the Antarctic with 440 minke whales.
Japanese whaling had been limited to minke whales, believed to be more numerous, until last year, when Tokyo decided to include the other two species in its programme.
International debate still rages over whether the number of Bryde's and sperm whales have increased sufficiently to allow catches.
RESEARCH OR DINNER?
Japan says its whaling programme is permitted by International Whaling Commission (IWC) rules and stresses that it is intended for scientific research.
"We need to find out how much whales consume of important stocks of fish," the Fisheries Agency official said.
Critics, however, charge that much of the whale meat ends up on restaurant tables and supermarket shelves.
The Fisheries Agency official said the number of whales it will take on its current hunt - 100 minkes, 50 Bryde's and 10 sperm - will not have a significant impact on any of the species.
He said the United States permits the killing of more than 60 bowhead whales each year by Native American Inuits in Alaska for cultural reasons and said that is much more harmful. Bowhead whales are on the World Conservation Union red list and have a population of about 7,000.
"Our hunting will have no significant impact on the populations," he added.
Japan stopped commercial whaling in 1986 in compliance with an international moratorium, but began its research programme a year later to "provide necessary data to establish a viable resource management scheme for whale populations".
Scientists from the IWC are meeting in July in London, and Japan hopes to expand the quotas on research whaling to enable it to catch more and different species.
Whale meat was an important source of protein in Japan after World War Two, and has become a gourmet food over the last few decades as prices have risen in line with falling supplies.