JAPAN鈥檚 programme of 鈥渟cientific鈥� whaling is coming under renewed attack.
Despite having missed half the whaling season following a fire on the fleet鈥檚
main ship, officials haven鈥檛 ruled out catching their full quota of 440 minke
whales. This would blow arguments used to justify the programme out of the
water, critics claim.
Although the International Whaling Commission has imposed a moratorium on
commercial catches, Japan has been whaling legally under scientific permit since
1987. Opponents allege that this is a commercial hunt in the guise of
science鈥攁fter a few samples are taken, they point out, minke meat ends up
in Japan鈥檚 sushi bars.
This year鈥檚 hunt was delayed by a fire on 19 November aboard the Nisshin Maru
meat-processing vessel. The fleet was forced back to Japan for repairs. Only now
are the processing ship, sighting vessel and three catcher boats ready to
sail.
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But halving the research period does not necessarily mean halving the number
of animals sampled, says Nobuyuki Yagi of Japan鈥檚 Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries. 鈥淚f we reach Antarctica by the beginning of February, we
could still do meaningful research.鈥�
Japan鈥檚 justification for taking so many whales has always been that, to
fully understand the ecology of minke whales in Antarctic waters, it needs to
catch a similar number of whales from the same subgroups of the population each
year.
The Japanese whaling fleet could easily take 440 whales before the season
ends on 21 April, experts say. But many believe this could only be achieved if
the whalers abandon the official plan to sample from each population subgroup.
Bob Brownell of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California,
says: 鈥淭he question now is: can they keep to the sampling design?鈥�
Britain, Australia and the US are urging Japan to abandon this year鈥檚 hunt.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a disappointment that they are making such an effort to go back,鈥� says
Ivor Llewellyn, Britain鈥檚 commissioner to the International Whaling Commission.