Greenpeace confronts Japanese whalers pulling
in a dead Minke whale in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. ©
Greenpeace 2000 |
Since 1987, Japan has conducted an annual whale hunt in the
Antarctic under the guise of 'scientific'
whaling. This so called 'scientific' hunt is in reality
a commercial enterprise: the whale meat and blubber that comes
from Japan's whale 'research' is sold commercially in Japan
at a value of four billion yen every year. No other country
uses lethal methods to research whales.
Since beginning its 'scientific' whaling, Japan has gradually
increased the extent of its operations, both by increasing
its self-allocated quotas and expanding its whaling operations
into new areas, including a second 'scientific' hunt in the
North Pacific ocean.
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In 2000, Japan defied the IWC and world opinion by expanding its
whale hunt in the North Pacific adding two new species, Sperm and
Bryde's whales, to their hunt which generating unprecedented levels
of public outrage and diplomatic protest from around the world.
The hunt in the north Pacific this summer will be expanded to include
fifty endangered Sei whales.
In spite of international opposition, Japan's hunt may continue
to expand. In recent years, Japan has increased the resources it
devotes to its whaling programs and has undertaken a major effort
to overturn the ban on commercial whaling. Japan's influence at
the IWC is increasing as a result of its vote
buying initiative. Japan has also invested heavily in a public
relations offensive designed to convince the public that whaling
is culturally and economically important to Japan and that whales
eat too many fish and threaten the conservation of fish stocks,
a claim for which there is no scientific basis.
Whale meat is a luxury food in Japan. A recent poll by the national
Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun showed that only 47 percent of
the Japanese public agree with whale hunting. The poll reveals a
shift in attitude toward supporting the protection of whales based
upon a concern for damage to the marine ecosystem and away from
a concern that the rest of the world is bashing Japan because of
its food culture. According to the current poll over one third of
the Japanese public opposed whaling.
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whales | whaling | environmental impacts | solutions | greenpeace & the whales
