OLDFEZZYWIG - 11-17-2007 at 10:13 AM
Japanese fleet to hunt humpback whales By HIROKO TABUCHI, Associated Press Writer
Sat Nov 17, 6:46 AM ET
TOKYO - Japan's whaling fleet was set to leave port Sunday for its biggest-ever scientific whale hunt in the South Pacific, the government fisheries
agency said.
The whalers have orders to kill up to 50 humpback whales — the first known large-scale hunt for the species since a 1963 moratorium put humpbacks
under international protection.
The new hunt is certain to renew Japan's angry standoff with anti-whaling forces. Greenpeace and the animal rights activist group Sea Shepherd have
said they will track the South Pacific hunt.
Four ships including the lead craft, the 8,044-ton Nisshin Maru, were set to leave Sunday morning from the southern port of Shimonoseki, said a news
release from Japan's Fisheries Agency.
Two observation boats left northern Japan on Wednesday, the agency said.
Along with the humpbacks, the 239-member mission that runs through April will also take up to 935 Antarctic minke whales and up to 50 fin whales in
their largest scientific whale hunt ever held in the South Pacific, according to a report Japan submitted to the International Whaling Commission
earlier this year.
But it is the plan to hunt the humpback — a favorite among whale-watchers for its distinctive knobby head, intelligence and out-of-the-water
acrobatics — that has triggered environmentalists' condemnation.
"These whales don't have to die," said a Greenpeace spokesman, Junichi Sato. "Humpbacks are very sensitive and live in close-knit pods. So even one
death can be extremely damaging."
Humpback whales were hunted to near-extinction four decades ago. They have been off-limits since 1963, except for a few caught under a subsistence
program by Greenland and the Caribbean nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Each caught one humpback last year, according to the International
Whaling Commission.
The former Soviet Union defied the ban and hunted humpbacks until 1973. It is disputed how many were killed.
Scientists say humpback whales are complex creatures that communicate through lengthy "songs."
Although they grow up to 48 feet long and weigh as much as 40 tons, they are extremely acrobatic, often throwing themselves out of the water, swimming
on their backs with both flippers in the air, or slapping the water with their tails.
The American Cetacean Society estimates the global humpback population at 30,000-40,000 — about a third of the number before modern whaling. The
species is listed as "vulnerable" by the World Conservation Union.
Japanese fisheries officials insist, however, that the animals' population has returned to a sustainable level.
"Humpback whales in our research area are rapidly recovering," said the Fisheries Agency's whaling chief, Hideki marooonuki. "Taking 50 humpbacks from
a population of tens of thousands will have no significant impact whatsoever."
He said killing whales lets marine biologists study their internal organs. Ovaries provide vital clues to reproductive systems, earwax indicates age,
and stomach contents reveal eating habits, he said.
Meat from Japan's scientific catch is sold commercially, as permitted by the IWC, but Japanese officials deny that profit is a goal.
Japan also argues that whaling is a tradition in its country that dates back to the early 1600s, and Tokyo has pushed unsuccessfully at the IWC to
reverse the 1986 commercial whaling moratorium.
Environmentalists claim that Japan's research program is a pretext for keeping the whaling industry alive.
Japan accuses activists of "environmental terrorism." After its last Antarctic hunt, the government released video of protesters launching smoke
canisters from a Sea Shepherd ship and dropping ropes and nets to entangle the Japanese ships' propellers.
"We call them terrorists because they engage in blatant terrorism," marooonuki said. "We don't want violence. ... All Japan wants is to find a
sustainable way to hunt a very precious marine resource."
Environmentalists have long campaigned for an end to the winter catch in the Southern Ocean and a North Pacific mission that kills about 100 minke
whales a year.
Scientists note that humpbacks migrate to the southern seas from breeding grounds around the world.
"Some breeding grounds are not recovering to the same extent as others," said whale biologists Ken Findlay at the University of Cape Town. "While the
catch may be small, we're not sure where they come from. That's a real concern."
Environmentalists also are critical of the harpooning methods Japan's fleet uses. Ships sometimes chase wounded whales for hours, Findlay said.
Paulina - 11-17-2007 at 10:38 AM
Barry A. - 11-17-2007 at 10:40 AM
Oh WHEN will this whale-killing insanity end???????? 
"Scientific study" my foot---------what a bunch of balony.
barry
Mexitron - 11-17-2007 at 01:18 PM
Is this because the Japanese really need the whales or because they don't like being told not to do it? Honestly, if their economy is so precarious
that they need to go after whales then they are in trouble. Or is whale meat another thing like rhino horns and tiger's parts that some are willing
to get no matter what the price?
Barry A. - 11-17-2007 at 01:32 PM
I think it just boils down to some of them like to eat sea creatures-------in fact so much so that they are willing to defy the world opinion, pay
enormous amounts of money, and satisfy their immediate "wants", and to H--- with tomorrow when the whales are all gone.
My son, who worked the canneries in Alaska while going to College, said that all the "primo" tuna went to Japan, because they were willing to pay the
most-------while the USA, etc. got sub-primo tuna-------and then consider the long-liners working the Sea of Cortez, etc.------
Seem like part of a pattern????? I think so.
-------or maybe they "just don't believe that whales are in danger"??? I really don't have a clue, but it sure looks bad to me, and leaves a bad
taste in my mouth, if you know what I mean. 
barry
Tasty Treats ?
MrBillM - 11-17-2007 at 04:20 PM
Never having been to Japan or anywhere else where Whale meat is available, I'm wondering how good it tastes. Anyone else actually know ? Better than
Dolphin steaks ?
Mexitron - 11-17-2007 at 04:29 PM
Whale meat is "not that special" tasting according to this article, which has some interesting insights:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4106688.stm
Japan pushes whale meat revival
By Jonathan Head
BBC Tokyo correspondent
This is the final week of the International Whaling Commission's annual conference, and, as in previous years, Japan will be applying strong
diplomatic pressure to ease the ban on commercial whaling, and expand the species it is currently allowed to hunt for scientific purposes
Schoolchildren in the western coastal district of Wakayama are now being offered an unusual addition to their lunch menus. Whale.
The Wakayama education board is supplying whale meat to around 280 schools, to try to promote awareness of the region's whaling traditions.
"We've been practising whaling since the beginning of the 17th century," Tetsuji Sawada, a local education official told the BBC, "but the tradition
is dying out."
To make the dish more appetising, the whale is being fried in breadcrumbs, or minced into burgers.
The board had to lobby the government to bring down the price to keep it within their budget.
'Scientific experiment'
All of the whale meat sold in Japan comes from the 400 whales or so that Japan kills every year for "scientific purposes".
The Wakayama initiative underscores an awkward problem confronting the whaling lobby here.
How would they feel if we told Americans they couldn't hunt deer, or if we told Australians to stop hunting kangaroos?
Hideki marooonuki
Fisheries Agency
For all of Japan's success in winning support from other countries for its campaign to ease the restrictions on whaling - especially smaller countries
which receive Japanese aid - the Japanese people are losing interest.
Whale meat is only served in a few specialist restaurants, and occasionally appears on supermarket shelves. Younger people almost never eat it.
So why does Japan exert so much diplomatic effort on this issue?
The official line is that whaling is an integral part of Japanese culture, a practice dating back hundreds of years.
That isn't quite true. A few coastal communities, like Wakayama, have been hunting whales for centuries, traditionally with hand-held harpoons.
Find out about the different endangered whale species.
In graphics
But the rest of Japan only became familiar with eating whale during the 20th Century, as modern ships with harpoon-guns became available.
Whale meat was especially widespread in the difficult years after the Second World War, when it was seen as a cheap source of protein.
But as incomes rose, people switched to imported beef, or fish like tuna and salmon. With such an abundance of high-quality protein available these
days, few Japanese see the point in eating whale, which doesn't taste that special.
There are other reasons for Japan's determined campaign.
"If the current ban on hunting whales is allowed to become permanent," says Hideki marooonuki, at the Fisheries Agency, the government department
leading the campaign, "activists may direct their efforts to restricting other types of fishing."
As Japan consumes more fish than any other nation, it worries about possible curbs on its fishing activities in open seas for species like tuna.
Outraged
Officials also like to claim that whales damage fish stocks because of the quantities they eat, although this is largely dismissed by scientists in
the rest of the world.
But perhaps the biggest factor is resentment of being told by other countries what Japan can and cannot do.
"Why do people in the west make such a big deal about our very limited hunting of whales?" asks Hideki marooonuki.
"How would they feel if we told Americans they couldn't hunt deer, or if we told Australians to stop hunting kangaroos?"
He argues that Japan has always relied on the sea for its food - pretty much everything that moves in salt water can be found on sale in Tokyo's
famous Tsukiji fish market - so why single out whales for exemption, provided they are hunted sustainably, like every other fish?
For many Japanese, whale meat is considered a delicacy
The counter-argument by conservationists is that whale populations are still too vulnerable for any hunting to be sustainable.
They are outraged by Japan's plan to start killing a few humpback whales as part of its "scientific" cull.
At the moment that cull includes mainly smaller minke whales.
The World Wildilfe Fund has described the scientific research carried out by Japan on the whales it kills "a sham".
It says it is possible to get information about the whales' diet and health from skin samples, without killing them.
"Japan's whaling programme is about business and politics, but not sound science," says the WWF.
Other activists agree. John Frizell, an anti-whaling campaigner at Greenpeace, believes much of the impetus behind Japan's efforts to re-start
commercial whaling comes from bureaucrats within the Fisheries Agency, who fear losing influence or even their jobs if the issue dies away.
Some activists suspect the pro-whaling campaign is being driven by nationalists within the government, who see it as an opportunity for Japan to be
seen to be standing up to pressure from other developed countries.
"As long as officials present the issue as one of Japan being bullied by the rest of the world", says John Frizell, "they can probably keep the
Japanese public behind them."
shari - 11-18-2007 at 08:30 AM
My condolences to the whale families who will suffer the loss of their loved ones. I guess offing a few whale hunters wouldn't really effect the
japanese population either??? Go nuts Sea Shepherds.
Tech Support
MrBillM - 11-18-2007 at 09:51 AM
Should the Japanese need a few pointers on dealing with the Whaling protest, I'm sure that the French can offer assistance.
Barry A. - 11-18-2007 at 09:55 AM
Yep------who would have thunk that the French people (non-union, that is) could FINALLY actually act responsibly and with backbone-------
I am having to reconsider my "views" on France lately-----