Greenpeace helicopter harasses a japanese whaling ship during a 1995 Southern Ocean excursion.

November 10, 1998
Web posted at: 2:50 PM EDT

By Environmental News Network staff

(ENN) -- Japan has begun its annual scientific whale hunt in the Southern Ocean with a new catcher boat added to its fleet.

The World Wildlife Fund is urging Japan to reconsider the hunt saying Japan has ignored international public opinion against the scientific whaling by boosting its catch of whales from recognized sanctuary areas while claiming it was doing so for scientific research.

"The launch of this new boat shows Japanese 'research whaling' is becoming more aggressive," said Cassandra Phillips, WWF coordinator for whales and the Antarctic. "Japan continues to defy the majority of International Whaling Commission members. For years now, the IWC has called on Japan to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary. It has also ruled that 'lethal research' of such dimensions was not necessary."

The Japanese whaling fleet caught 438 minke whales in the Antarctic last winter bringing its five year total to 3767, according to WWF.

In addition, Japan caught 398 minkes in the north Pacific over the past five summers. The meat from all these whales was sold for high prices on the Japanese market, with some meat used for school lunches to try to foster the taste for whale-meat among children, says WWF.

The new boat is part of a fleet of five just despatched to the Southern Ocean for the 12th year in a row, despite calls by the International Whaling Commission for Japan to stop its whaling there.

Although the Southern Ocean was declared a sanctuary for whales in 1994 by the IWC, Japan's 'research' whaling is exempt from control because of a clause which WWF claims was only intended to allow for small scale scientific research.

"Japan is also exerting additional pressure to try to undermine the IWC's authority," added Phillips. "This is clear from the talks that Japan has been pursuing with neighboring countries to establish a regional resource management body as a rival to the IWC, as well as an 'invitation' to Morocco to join the group of countries that are members of the IWC just to increase Japan's influence in the body."

A second meeting of the IWC commissioners of Japan, China, South Korea and Russia was held Oct. 13-15 at the Overseas Fisheries Cooperation Fund in Akasaka, Tokyo. At this meeting, discussion focused on furthering four-nation cooperation on research and the management of cetacean resources, which had been agreed at a first meeting held in February this year.

A third such meeting is also planned.

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