The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW- www.ifaw.org) is urging Japan to recall its whaling fleet which today left port for Antarctica to train its harpoons on around 1,000 whales.
According to Japanese media reports, the country’s whaling fleet is en route to the pristine Southern Ocean Sanctuary to kill up to 935 minke whales and 50 endangered fin whales, in defiance of global opposition and several international laws. Japan is believed to have provided around US$30 million in additional government security budget to protect the fleet this season.
Japan hunts whales in the seas surrounding Antarctica under the loophole of “scientific whaling” despite the worldwide ban on commercial whaling.
Patrick Ramage, Director of IFAW’s Global Whale Programme, said: “We are disappointed although not surprised that Japan’s whaling fleet has once more set sail for Antarctica to slaughter more whales. The reality, though, is that the whaling industry is dying and this is its last gasp. The economics show that whaling is unprofitable and a bad policy for the Japanese people as well as for whales.”
IFAW opposes whaling because it is cruel and unnecessary; there is simply no humane way to kill a whale. Footage of Japanese whaling analysed by IFAW scientists has shown whales can take more than half an hour to die.
While whaling is uneconomic, whale watching offers a humane and profitable alternative to the cruelty of whaling, generating around US$2.1 billion annually for coastal communities.
According to recent media reports the Australian Customs ship Ocean Protector, docked in Hobart, may be preparing to sail to the Southern Ocean to monitor the whaling season.
Australian government ship Oceanic Viking has been used in the past to monitor Japanese whalers and the Australian government has presented a case against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean to the International Court of Justice.
IFAW encourages all governments to take the strongest diplomatic action possible against Japan and call for an end to its whaling programme.
During the last season of Southern Ocean whaling, the Japanese fleet headed back to port early with less than half of its self-allocated catch quota following pressure from many fronts.
About IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)
Founded in 1969, IFAW saves animals in crisis around the world. With projects in more than 40 countries, IFAW rescues individual animals, works to prevent cruelty to animals and advocates for the protection of wildlife and habitats. For more information, visit www.ifaw.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
The fisheries agency would not confirm that the fleet had left or say how long it would remain at sea. Japan's whalers usually leave for the southern ocean in December and return in April.
For the past six years, the fleet has clashed with Sea Shepherd activists, one of whom was given a suspended prison sentence last year after boarding a whaling vessel to protest the destruction of the group's hi-tech speedboat.
Last year, Sea Shepherd claimed a significant victory after its campaign of harassment forced the fleet to return to port a month early with 172 whales, just one-fifth of its intended catch.
Treacherous waters
Sea Shepherd had pursued the fleet through treacherous waters, hurling rancid butter onto the decks of whaling ships and positioning its boats between the harpooners and their prey.
This year, the whalers plan to kill just over 900 minke whales and about 50 fin whales, reports said. Commercial whaling was banned in 1986, but the International Whaling Commission [IWC] permits Japan to kill a limited number of whales for "scientific research".
Environmentalists condemn the practice as commercial whaling by another name, since the IWC allows meat from the research expeditions to be sold to restaurants and supermarkets.
Robbie Marsland of the International Fund for Animal Welfare in London said: "We are disappointed although not surprised that Japan's whaling fleet has once more set sail for Antarctica to slaughter more whales. The reality, though, is that the whaling industry is dying and this is its last gasp. The economics show that whaling is unprofitable and a bad policy for the Japanese people as well as for whales."
Last year, the IWC failed to agree on a proposal to allow Japan to catch whales in coastal waters in return for reducing its catch in the Antarctic.
Japan's annual cull has caused friction with Australia and New Zealand, which have again called on the fleet to abandon its hunt in an area they regard as a whale sanctuary.
Why is Japan so adamant about whaling?
Japan's whaling is subject to a 1986 international moratorium and is opposed by many other countries. Japan officially halted commercial whaling in 1987 but used a loophole in the moratorium to continue whaling under the premise of scientific research.
Many people do not pay much attention to whaling in Japan where many regard whales as fishery stock rather than endangered animals.
"Japanese people do not hold such negative feelings about using whales as fishery resources as those in other countries," said Nanami Kurasawa, executive director of the Dolphin & Whale Action Network. "Those in their 50s and 60s used to eat whale meat for school lunches, which I believe has partly contributed to the perception."
Although the US has opposed Japan's whaling, its occupation authorities after World War II ironically helped establish the practice, urging the war-ravaged country to serve whale meat at schools as a cheap source of protein.
One of the problems has been a lack of public awareness about the issue as the mainstream media, often criticised as government mouthpieces, fail to provide what critics called fair and comprehensive coverage.
Most of the media reports concerning the issue in recent years have been about the obstruction of whaling and much less about what so-called research whaling is all about.
Nationalism
Not surprisingly, nationalism plays a part in Japan's pro-whaling campaign. Japan's media coverage and Sea Shepherd's tactics, including boarding whaling ships and sailing into their paths, have contributed to it, critics said.
The whaling issue gives some politicians a chance to raise their public profiles, Kurasawa said. "Unfortunately, it has become an important mission to protect the whaling fleet from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society with the group labelled as terrorists," she said.
The Japan Coast Guard said Monday that it would protect the fleet from Sea Shepherd obstructions after the whaling ships had to cut short their hunt last season in mid-February because of the anti-whaling group.
Tatsuya Nakaoku, a fisheries agency official, defended Japan's whaling.
"From long ago, Japanese people have eaten whales," he said. "Our family often eats whale meat at home."
But critics said such eating habits were rooted only in limited areas of the nation. The real reason for supporting whaling stems from national honour, they said.
'Cruel country'
"The fundamental root cause of the whaling issue is a kind of trauma since Japan was labelled a cruel country and a culture of eating whales was denied," said Tetsu Sato, professor of ecology and environmental studies at Nagano University.
"It is a problem of government and bureaucratic pride," he said.
Sato said anti-whaling nations also have the trauma of having been misled by Japan, which they have criticised for using its scientific research whaling as a cover for commercial hunting.
"As both sides have such traumas, I believe that has had an adverse impact on subsequent negotiations," Sato said.
"As Japan's pro-whaling group feels they are the ones who always have to compromise, they need a kind of victory of their claim being accepted," he said. -- © Guardian News and Media 2011-Sapa
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