Moratorium loophole used to justify killing 50 in Antarctic
TOKYO — Japan’s whaling fleet set off Sunday toward the Antarctic Ocean for a hunt that will include famed humpback whales for the first time, defying Western protests that the move will inflame tensions.
Japan argues that whale populations have recovered enough to allow a managed catch, but militant environmentalists have vowed in turn to “ hunt the whalers” and save the humpbacks.
The six- vessel fleet took off from the western port of Shimonoseki for its five- month voyage led by the 8,044tonne Nisshin Maru, which has been repaired since a fire that forced Japan to cut short its last Antarctic hunt.
“ Although we are subjected to vicious blocking tactics by environmental groups, we have to continue this into the future,” team leader Hajima Ishikawa told a departure ceremony.
Greenpeace said that its Esperanza ship is waiting outside Japanese coastal waters and will track the whalers in Antarctic waters, shooting video footage to show the public.
“ The threatened humpbacks targeted by the whalers are part of thriving whale- watching industries elsewhere,” said Greenpeace expedition leader Karli Thomas. “ The whaling fleet must be recalled now. If it is not, we will take direct, non- violent action to stop the hunt.”
Britain is considering making a “ highlevel diplomatic protest” to Japan, a government spokeswoman said Sunday.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ( DEFRA) said the government believed the hunt, being carried out by a six- boat fleet on a five- month voyage, was unnecessary.
“ We do not believe that Japan’s proposed lethal research that targets vulnerable humpback populations is necessary and we have serious reservations as to its scientific value,” the spokeswoman said, speaking anonymously in line with government policy.
“ We are committed to maintaining the moratorium on commercial whaling and will oppose all efforts by Japan to undermine this with so- called ‘ scientific’ whaling.
Japan kills more than 1,000 whales a year in the Antarctic and also the Pacific Ocean using a loophole in a 1986 international moratorium that allows catching whales for research. Only Norway and Iceland defy the moratorium outright.
This year, Japan is expanding the catch to harpoon 50 humpback whales, which are celebrated for their complex songs and acrobatic displays.
The expedition also plans to kill 50 fin whales — the world’s second largest animal after blue whales — as well as 850 smaller minke whales.
It will be the first time that Japan has hunted humpback whales since an international moratorium on the species took effect in 1966 due to overhunting. The former Soviet Union also defied the moratorium through the 1980s.
Western conservationists say that humpback and fin whale populations are still vulnerable. Australia has warned that killing humpbacks would seriously worsen an already bitter feud with Japan on whaling.
Humpbacks migrate northwards along Australia’s coast to breed each year. Their slow and majestic progression draws some 1.5 million whale watchers annually, pumping an estimated $ 225 million US into Australia’s economy.
“ It’s important that Japan understands that the inclusion of humpbacks will have an impact on perceptions of Japan in Australia,” Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said previously.
Japan counters that Western nations are insensitive to its culture and that whale populations are recovering.
Japan makes no secret that the whale meat goes onto dinner plates and also says that “ lethal research” helps keep data on the giant mammals.