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Humpback hunt stirs protest
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200711260056.html
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN 11/26/2007
As far as media in this country were concerned, the Nov. 18 departure of Japan's whaling fleet to hunt humpback and minke whales in the Antarctic was hardly news.
Few newspapers or TV news shows bothered to mention the story.
In sharp contrast, the fleet's departure from Shimonoseki Port in Yamaguchi Prefecture made headlines the world over, sparking outcries in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Europe. The reactions thrust Japan's near-isolated stand on whaling into sharp focus.
Protest abroad is especially strong because Japan is hunting leviathan humpbacks for the first time in decades. The fleet hopes to harvest about 1,000 whales, including humpbacks, minkes and fin whales, before returning home in the spring.
The International Whaling Commission passed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986.
A year later, Japan returned to the seas to harvest Antarctic minke whales for "research purposes," allowed under IWC rules.
Since then, Japan's hunt has expanded to other waters and types of whales.
Whale meat is sold to cover the costs of the expeditions. While domestic consumption of whale is not rising--due to the high price of the meat--critics say the "research" is simply a guise for the profit-making sales.
Worldwide conservation and citizen group protests have spurred governments to make clear their anger toward Japan.
In Australia, a staunch foe of whaling, criticism mounted ahead of the overwhelming Labor Party victory in Saturday's general election.
Labor Party member Robert McClelland said earlier that when in power, he plans to push hard for Tokyo to end the whaling.
The issue gained heat in the run-up to the vote. Outgoing Foreign Minister Alexander Downer issued a statement Nov. 19 calling for a stop to whaling--despite the Howard administration's earlier soft stance on whaling, which was out of consideration of Australia's ties to Japan.
Argument until now has centered on scientific issues, such as how to estimate whale populations and how to protect them.
This time, feelings are stirred because the humpback whale, a favorite sight of whale watchers, is targeted.
Whale watchers can easily identify individual humpbacks by their long pectoral fins, bumpy heads and wide tails. When a humpback dramatically breaches the surface, it is a sight to behold.
Animal rights activists in Australia, meanwhile, question whether Japan is really engaged in science when it sends vessels great distances to hunt and kill whales.
Also, some note that such activities also affect coastal economies where whale watching is popular.
According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, whale watching is profitable, netting income equivalent to about 3.8 billion yen in Oceania and the Antarctic region in 1998. Adding related businesses, the industry brought in an estimated 13.2 billion yen in income that year for the region.
Washington also joined in the criticism.
"We call on Japan to refrain from conducting this year's hunt, especially with respect to humpback and fin whales," U.S. State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said Nov. 19.
Japan plans to hunt 850 minke, 50 humpback and 50 fin whales and others on this expedition.
Britain's Independent newspaper in its Nov. 19 editorial wrote: "To many, it is hard to comprehend how a country that helped initiate the Kyoto treaty and has been in the vanguard of the environmental movement could have so little sympathy for the whale."
The government's Fisheries Agency decided to return to hunting humpbacks, it said, because surveys of the minke whale population do not give the whole picture in the Antarctic.
Humpback hunting was halted in the 1960s after the population plummeted. Currently, estimates put the number of humpbacks in the Antarctic at between 35,000 and 40,000.
The IWC estimates that humpback numbers have risen 10 percent or more annually in recent years.
The agency contends that whales eat huge amounts of fish--which in turn lowers fishing catches worldwide.
Agency officials maintain that food shortages will increase due to dwindling fish hauls if humpbacks are not controlled as are minke whales.
Other nations don't accept that position. The IWC voted at the end of May to support a moratorium on commercial whaling.(IHT/Asahi: November 26,2007)
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