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1 July 2002
Whaling fleet leaves to hunt endangered
whales
 The
Japanese whaling fleet left port over the weekend on yet another
"scientific" whaling expedition. But this time the whalers
are looking for Sei whales, an endangered whale that has not been
hunted in more than a quarter of a century.
The whale hunt will last three months in the North Pacific, and
in addition to the 50 endangered Sei whales, the whalers plan to
catch 150 Minke, 50 Bryde's and 10 Sperm whales.
The whalers have not had long to catch their breath at home. They
returned from the Southern ocean in April carrying two thousand
tonnes of whale meat for commercial sale caught in a whale sanctuary
6000 miles from Japan.
For the past 15 years, the Fisheries Agency of Japan has subsidised
the hunt for whales through a private organisation set up by Japan's
whaling industry under the guise of "scientific research".
Exploiting a loophole in the rules of the International Whaling
Commission that allows countries to issue permits to kill whales
for lethal research, the whale meat from this 'research' ends up
for sale on the domestic market at a value of about four billion
yen each year.
This is the whaling fleet’s third trip to the North Pacific since
the Japanese “scientific” whaling programme began, but it is the
first time in 26 years that Sei whales will be hunted.
Sei whales were heavily exploited during the last century and are
now classified as an endangered species by the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature and the US government.
The Fisheries Agency of Japan has defended its "research"
whaling as essential to finding out how whales affect the world's
fishery resources. But it is already well known that the problems
of declining fish stocks are caused by over fishing.
This hunt has nothing to do with science, it is about making money.
Last summer’s hunt in the North Pacific concentrated on filling
the Bryde’s whale quota, the species with the highest commercial
value.
And money may be the deciding factor that lifts the worldwide moratorium
on commercial whaling.
Last month delegates met in Shimonoseki for the International Whaling
Commission’s annual meeting, not far from where the Japanese whaling
fleet was docked making preparations for their departure. After
hard lobbying by the Japanese delegation, they were unable to overturn
the whaling moratorium, but the Japanese government made a mockery
of the democratic process by influencing votes in exchange for foreign
aid.
The Fishery Agency of Japan uses fisheries grant aid to buy the
votes of developing countries. The strategy has been in place since
the early 1990s. Documented evidence includes statements made by
high-ranking Japanese officials and the testimony of Prime Minister
Lester Bird of Antigua and Barbuda, one of the bought countries.
Bought votes may secure the Government of Japan a simple majority
(greater than 50 percent) of countries voting in favour of commercial
whaling, not because countries are changing their minds, but because
the votes have been bought. If this practice continues unchecked,
it is only a matter of time before the Japanese government buys
their way into a new era of commercial whaling.
Take
action to stop whaling in the North Pacific, send a letter
to the Japanese Fisheries Agency and ask them to stop the hunt.
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