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Japan doubles whale cull
Fleet targets 1,000, including endangered

Bloomberg

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

CREDIT: The Associated Press
A harpoon gun is ready for action as the Japanese whaling fleet, including the Nisshin-maru (right), leaves for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

TOKYO -- Japan's whaling fleet set sail yesterday for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary for its annual hunt and plans to double the cull, the environmental group Greenpeace reports.

The fleet, which sailed out of Shimonoseki, western Japan, plans to increase the harvest to more than 1,000 whales and will include endangered species this year, Greenpeace said.

"The sanctuary is there to help whales recover after over a century of relentless persecution sent populations plummeting," Greenpeace said in an e-mail statement. "Japan should join all other countries in respecting the sanctuary."

The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, though members Japan and Norway continued to hunt whales. The whales caught by the Japanese are cut up and boxed after they have been measured and weighed. Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a non-profit research institute is allowed to sell the meat in order to cover part of the research costs.

Japan failed June 21 to end the ban on commercial whaling. The 66-member IWC voted against Japan's proposal for a non-binding measure backing limited hunting of whales at its meeting this year in Ulsan, South Korea.

Japan plans to double the number of minke whales it catches from 440 a year. It will also expand its take to include 50 humpback and 50 fin whales over the next two years, both of which are listed as endangered species.

This will be the first year Japan has added fin whales to its cull, Greenpeace said.

Japan says it conducts the whaling expeditions for scientific purposes. Greenpeace says Japan is exploiting a loophole in international law to issue licences for the hunt.

The environmental group questions the validity and scientific necessity of the research which Japan says is to study the impact of whales on fish stocks.

The IWC allows aboriginals in Greenland, Russia, the West Indies and Alaska to kill a specific number of whales each year.

The whale sanctuary was created in 1994 and includes all important feeding areas for whales up to the edge of Antarctica, the IWC website says.
© The Vancouver Province 2005