Japan starts hunting whales again
Print Edition
Japanese fishermen will set sail today to hunt whales commercially for the first time in more than three decades after Tokyo鈥檚 controversial withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission triggered outrage from environmental groups.
The planned hunts, while small and far from internationally protected waters, have also sparked anger in countries where whaling is considered outdated and harmful.
However, in Japan, whaling communities hailed the return of the practice, with Tokyo defending it as a tradition that should not be subject to outside interference.
For years, the issue of whaling was a diplomatic headache for Japan, which came under attack for exploiting an IWC loophole to hunt whales for 鈥渟cientific鈥 purposes.
Critics accused Japan of effectively carrying out stealth whaling, saying the hunts had no scientific value, while Tokyo continued to push for permission to resume commercial whaling outright.
But last year it announced it would simply withdraw from the IWC and no longer comply with its decades-old ban on commercial killing of the ocean giants.
The decision comes into effect today when a flotilla of ships that once carried out whaling for 鈥渟cientific research鈥 will set sail from the Shimonoseki port in western Japan.
Five small whaling boats from across the country will gather in northern Kushiro port to hunt the minke whale for about a week in a symbolic event.
鈥淲e are very excited at the resumption of commercial whaling,鈥 said Yoshifumi Kai, head of the Japan Small-Type Whaling Association.
鈥淢y heart is full of hope,鈥 added Kai, who belongs to a fisheries cooperative in Taiji in Wakayama prefecture, an area known for both whale and dolphin hunting.
Japan鈥檚 decision to withdraw from the IWC sparked a firestorm of criticism from environmentalists and anti-whaling countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
It came after years of failed attempts by Tokyo to convince the IWC to allow it to resume commercial whaling, arguing that stocks of certain species were now sufficient to support renewed hunting.
The decision means Japan will end its most provocative expeditions in protected Antarctic waters and instead concentrate on commercial whaling of minke and other whales off its shores.
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